The Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has dismissed calls for a new constitutional instrument to replace Article 146, which outlines the process for removing a Chief Justice. Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, September 15, 2025, Mr. Dafeamekpor described these calls as “illogical.” He emphasised that no new instrument can override what is already established in the Constitution.
“No process can succeed because any instrument—whether legislative or constitutional—that seeks to expand the procedure under Article 146 cannot vary, deviate, or depart from what is concretely laid out in Article 146,” he stated. “The demand for an instrument that diverges from the Constitution’s provisions is unreasonable, as any such instrument would merely derive from and reflect what the Constitution specifies.”
While he rejected the idea of a wholly new instrument, he acknowledged that additional rules could be implemented to enhance the existing framework without changing its core principles. “You can only add details to it. For instance, if they say a prima facie determination must be made in accordance with the decision in the Agyei Twum versus Attorney General case, then a timeline could be established. However, you cannot claim that a prima facie determination cannot occur,” he explained.
His remarks come in the wake of heightened public debate following the removal of Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo as Chief Justice by President John Dramani Mahama under Article 146. Many have since called for reforms to make the process more rigid, arguing that the current framework appears more flexible than procedures covering the removal of heads of the other two arms of government.
Source: Isaac Appiah-Kubi
