Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party and 2024 NPP flagbearer hopeful, Ing. Kwabena Agyepong, has made a passionate appeal for an end to what he described as the “cyclical retribution” that continues to plague Ghana’s governance and judicial system.
He made the call in response to the ongoing public discourse and controversy surrounding the suspension and petition for the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 Martyrs Day commemoration at the Supreme Court, Agyepong detoured from the day’s solemn observance to weigh in on the national issue, stressing the need for sober reflection and national unity.
“This cyclical retribution does not help us. We must end it somewhere so we can build on our development as a people,” he stated.
He called on both leadership and the citizenry to adopt a spirit of reconciliation and collective progress.
“I want us to use this day as one of sober reflection, from the President to all of us, so that we work together in the interest of our country,” he urged.
Touching on the gravity of the current situation, Agyepong indicated that Ghanaians cannot be passive since a leg of democracy according to him is being exposed to unnecessary danger. “One leg of our democracy, which is the judiciary, has been exposed to unnecessary danger. We cannot be passive.”he asserted.
He expressed solidarity with Chief Justice Torkornoo, stating that he identified with her struggles, while condemning the prevailing culture of political and institutional revenge.
Earlier in his remarks, Agyepong recounted the tragic events of June 30, 1982, when his father, Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, together with Justices Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Fred Poku Sarkodee, and Major (Rtd) Sam Acquah, were abducted and murdered under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime.
He recalled how his father was called from the dinner table under the pretense of assisting a fellow judge, only for the family to discover the next morning that he had been killed. The late judges are honored annually on June 30, Martyrs Day with a wreath-laying ceremony at the forecourt of the Supreme Court, in remembrance of their service and sacrifice.