The ten petitions demanding the removal of Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng and the Electoral Commission leadership are now more than constitutional paperwork — they have become a flashing alarm signal in Ghana’s democracy.
Former Anyaa Sowutuom MP, Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi, didn’t just whisper what many suspect; he said it plainly. According to him, the petitions bear the fingerprints of the Presidency and the governing NDC, executed with “clockwork” precision. It is a serious charge — that state power is being used to settle political debts under the guise of institutional accountability.
Government communicators issued the predictable denial. But the timing, targets, and political history tell a different story. When a new administration openly vows to reshape the Electoral Commission, then miraculously a series of petitions arrive within months seeking exactly that outcome, citizens are entitled to ask whether civic oversight is being manipulated for partisan cleansing.
This is the real danger: when constitutional remedies become political tools, institutions lose legitimacy. The Office of the Special Prosecutor, already fighting for credibility, is now branded incompetent in a petition era driven by political interpretation rather than proven fact. The Electoral Commission — the referee of national elections — is being dragged into a partisan firing squad.
Yes, the law allows petitions. Yes, the Chief Justice must assess them. But legality does not erase motive. What Ghanaians must fear is not the petitions themselves, but the normalisation of institutional decapitation whenever power changes hands.
If every government treats watchdogs as obstacles to be replaced rather than pillars to be strengthened, Ghana’s democracy is not reforming — it is cannibalising itself.
Dr. Adomako Kissi’s criticism may be politically coloured, but it opens a necessary debate: Are our constitutional processes being hijacked for revenge politics? And if so, how long before no officeholder feels secure enough to challenge executive power?
Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie now sits at the centre of a constitutional stress test. His handling of these petitions will either reinforce public trust or confirm the chilling suspicion that removal mechanisms have become the newest weapons in Ghana’s political arsenal.
Democracy is not only defended by courts — it is defended by restraint. When political leaders see enemies instead of institutions, Ghana edges closer to a cycle where every election becomes a purge. The petitions may be legal, but the politics behind them could be lethal.
