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The Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has firmly rejected calls for the introduction of a new constitutional instrument to replace Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, which governs the removal of a Chief Justice.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, September 15, 2025, Mr Dafeamekpor described such proposals as “illogical”, stressing that no legislative or constitutional instrument could override provisions that are already entrenched in the Constitution.
“No process can succeed because any instrument, whether a legislative or constitutional instrument, that will amplify the procedure under 146 cannot vary, can’t deviate, and can’t depart from what is already captured in concrete under 146,” he stated. “The clamour for an instrument that will depart from what the Constitution provides is illogical reasoning because the instrument will be a derivative of what the Constitution provides. It can only mirror and give flesh to what the Constitution stipulates; it cannot depart from it, it can’t vary it, and it can’t be different from it.”
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Mr Dafeamekpor, however, admitted that additional rules could be introduced to supplement the framework without altering its essence. He explained that such measures could provide clarity on certain procedural timelines.
“You can only add flesh to it. For instance, when they say a prima facie determination must be made, pursuant to the decision in Agyei Twum versus Attorney General, then maybe a timeline would be provided. But you can’t say that a prima facie determination can’t take place,” he noted.
His comments come against the backdrop of mounting public debate following the recent removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo by President John Dramani Mahama under Article 146.
The unprecedented move has sparked calls for reforms to strengthen the removal process, with critics arguing that the current framework appears less rigid than procedures covering the dismissal of the heads of the Legislature and the Executive.
Mr Dafeamekpor’s stance underscores the deepening legal and political debate over constitutional safeguards, checks and balances, and the future of judicial independence in Ghana.
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