President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has praised Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie for his decisive ruling on petitions seeking the removal of the Electoral Commission Chairperson and her deputies, stating that the decision demonstrates that Ghana’s judiciary is now free from executive influence.

The Chief Justice ruled that there is no prima facie case to warrant further investigations into the seven petitions targeting Electoral Commission Chairperson Jean Mensa and her deputies, as well as three petitions calling for the removal of Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng.

The petitions were referred to the Chief Justice by President John Dramani Mahama in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 15 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), to determine whether they disclosed a prima facie case.

Reacting on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Mr Cudjoe said the ruling marks a historic break from past practices, noting that such independence would have been impossible under the New Patriotic Party.

“The Judiciary is now truly unshackled. This would never have happened under the previous scariest alternative. Thank you, CJ. Thank you, President John Dramani Callistus Mahama,” he said