​Ghana: suspension of the chief justice, a first in the country’s history 

  Ghana’s opposition MPs have strongly condemned the suspension of the country’s chief justice, accusing President John Mahama of trying to “fill the courts” with judges favorable to the ruling party, the NDC. Gertrude Torkornoo was removed from office on Wednesday, the first time a chief justice has been suspended in the country’s history. This measure was taken after the filing of three petitions containing allegations against Mrs Torkornoo. The content of the petitions has not been made public and the person concerned has not yet commented openly on the question. Mahama’s supporters have supported this decision, considering it as a long-awaited measure to clean up the judicial system. But the opposition condemned it as being “nothing less than a shameless judicial coup d’état, an imprudent abuse of executive power and a direct attack against the independence of Ghana’s judiciary”. On Tuesday, a communiqué from the Presidency indicated that the Chief Justice had been asked to retire so that the allegations against her could be investigated. Since the announcement of the suspension, two other requests have been lodged against Ms Torkornoo. Former Prosecutor General Godfred Yeboah Dame told the BBC that he thought the suspension was a “complete masquerade… the greatest attack against the [judicial power] in the history of the nation”. Before Ms Torkornoo’s suspension, her lawyers had lodged at least two complaints challenging the legality of the procedure used by the President.