The Suame Member of Parliament, John Darko, has condemned President John Dramani Mahama’s suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, alleging that the move is driven not by legal necessity but by a calculated political agenda orchestrated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Darko challenged the purported constitutional rationale for the suspension, imposed under Article 146(6) of the 1992 Constitution, after the Council of State advised that a prima facie case existed against the Chief Justice.

He argued that the action represents a direct assault on judicial independence.

Speaking on Channel One TV on Saturday, 3 May, the MP asserted, “I have maintained that we are just circling the issue. We can talk about the law and the GBA, Association of Lawyers and others, but as for me, my point has always been that … the independence of the judiciary means nothing to us by this act of suspension of the CJ and the defence by the members of the public, especially our friends in the NDC.”

He went on to insist that politics, rather than legal principle, underpins the decision.

“The heart of this is politics. There is nothing legal about this. You can talk about the execution of Article 143, whatever, but it is the politics of it which is at play. This is a political agenda by the NDC being properly executed,” Darko concluded.