{"id":10833,"date":"2025-05-06T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=10833"},"modified":"2025-05-06T09:44:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:44:55","slug":"they-just-wanted-to-test-their-popularity-mustapha-gbande-dismisses-npps-cj-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=10833","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They just wanted to test their popularity\u2019 \u2013 Mustapha Gbande dismisses NPP\u2019s CJ protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deputy NDC General Secretary Mustapha Gbande has rubbished the NPP’s protest against the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, saying the demonstration was unnecessary and politically self-serving.<\/p>\n

Speaking on\u00a0Joy News\u2019 PM Express<\/em>\u00a0on Monday, May 5, he said the NPP\u2019s march was not about defending the judiciary, but rather an attempt to flex political muscle after its 2024 electoral defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps they just wanted to test their popularity, which is good,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody underestimated the NPP and their membership. The argument has never been that because the NPP lost an election, their party has collapsed. It is still a strong political party, and we respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Director of Operations at the Presidency was firm that the demonstration achieved nothing of value.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, they failed to drive home anything, because clearly, there was no need for the demonstration in the first place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the things they talked about have already been spoken. People have shared opinions. Some agree, others disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that while the right to protest is guaranteed, it cannot override constitutional processes already in motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe demonstrators derive their powers from a constitution\u2014their right to demonstrate\u2014and they\u2019ve done so,\u201d Mustapha Gbande acknowledged.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut the same Constitution requires that certain processes be followed in certain decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think demonstrations have concentrated enough structures that can displace decisions being taken based on constitutionally provided guidelines,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we should respect that same Constitution and allow the processes to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mustapha Gbande\u2019s comments came in direct response to fellow guest and NPP member Andrew Egyapa Mercer, who touted the large turnout at the protest as a sign of the party\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n

But the Deputy NDC General Secretary was unimpressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it is not the place of the NPP, my brother Egyapa Mercer, or Alexander Afenyo-Markin to determine whether or not all of these processes give fidelity or find fidelity with the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The protest, which drew support from other opposition parties together with the NPP, was staged in Accra over what the opposition has called a \u201cdangerous interference\u201d in the judiciary after President John Mahama suspended the Chief Justice.<\/p>\n

Mustapha Gbande maintained that the President acted within his constitutional authority and that critics should allow the legal process to take its course without politicising the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not turn constitutional issues into a street contest,\u201d he said. \u201cThe law is the law. If we all respect the Constitution, we should let the proper institutions do their work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deputy NDC General Secretary Mustapha Gbande has rubbished the NPP’s protest against the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, saying the demonstration was unnecessary and politically self-serving. Speaking on\u00a0Joy News\u2019 PM Express\u00a0on Monday, May 5, he said the NPP\u2019s march was not about defending the judiciary, but rather an attempt to flex political muscle after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":10834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[513,3471],"class_list":["post-10833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-mustapha-gbande","tag-npps-cj-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10835,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833\/revisions\/10835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}