The Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Justice Srem Sai, has disclosed that the state has been sued regarding one of President John Dramani Mahama’s appointments.

In a post shared on social media, the Deputy Attorney General disclosed that the suit, which was filed at the Supreme Court, challenges President Mahama’s appointment of a retired Commissioner of Police (COP) to the Police Council.

Though he did not state the retired officer in question, Srem-Sai explained that the laws of the country require that the President appoint a representative of the “Retired Senior Police Officers Association” to the Police Council, but the association does not exist now.

“The Constitution requires the President to appoint a representative of the ‘Retired Senior Police Officers Association’ to the Police Council. This association existed when the Constitution was written.

“Currently, however, there is no association in Ghana called ‘Retired Senior Police Officers Association.’ Rather, there is a ‘National Association of Retired Police Officers.’ The two associations differ in both name (as you can see) and in composition,” he wrote.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang becomes the first female Chairperson of the Police Council

“In the absence of the ‘Retired Senior Police Officers Association,’ His Excellency the President, in 2025, appointed a retired Commissioner of Police (COP) to the Police Council. For emphasis, a retired COP is a retired senior police officer,” he added.

He indicated that the plaintiffs have asked the court to order the president to replace the retired COP he has appointed to the Police Council with a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) who is a member of the National Association of Retired Police Officers.

“There’s a case currently pending before the Supreme Court. The case challenges the President’s appointment of the retired COP and prays that the President be ordered to replace him with a retired ACP (also a retired senior police officer).

“The retired ACP is a member of the ‘National Association of Retired Police Officers,’” he stated.

The motive of the Deputy Attorney General’s post is unclear, but it comes amidst the debate on the status of the Ghana Bar Association in the 1992 Constitution, following a suit by the Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, and two other people.

Dafeamekpor, alongside private legal practitioner Israel Tetteh and the Ghana Law Society, filed a writ at the Supreme Court challenging the exclusive recognition of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) within Ghana's legal and constitutional framework.

Dafeamekpor, two others run to Supreme Court to challenge GBA's exclusive status

The suit, filed on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, invokes the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Articles 2(1) and 130(1) of the 1992 Constitution.

The plaintiffs argue that the current GBA, a private voluntary association, should not be treated as the sole representative body for lawyers in the country.

The plaintiffs are seeking seven key declarations, including a request for the court to interpret references to the "Ghana Bar Association" in the Constitution and the Legal Profession Act as generic or umbrella terms, rather than exclusive to the existing GBA.

They contend that granting such exclusive status to a single private group violates constitutional rights to equality and freedom of association, as enshrined in Articles 17 and 21(1)(e) of the 1992 Constitution.

BAI/VPO

Will Ghana pass the Anti-Witchcraft Bill? Find out in the latest episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV in this conversation with Amnesty International: