Justice Gertrude Torkornoo
Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has intensified the legal battle against her suspension—this time, by filing a case at the ECOWAS Community Court in Abuja, Nigeria, against Ghana.
The case marks a shift in the initial route taken by Justice Torkornoo and her legal team, who have filed similar lawsuits at the Supreme Court and the High Court.
Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, in a Facebook post yesterday, confirmed the suit initiated against Ghana as the suspended Chief Justice takes further steps to reverse what she describes as unlawful suspension and subsequent probe.
“I can confirm that the Chief Justice – Her Ladyship, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo – has filed another court case – this time, at the ECOWAS Community Court in Abuja, Nigeria, against the Republic,” he wrote.
The Deputy AG continued that “In the case, which was filed on July 4, Her Ladyship repeated the same allegations of human rights violations which are currently pending determination before our Supreme Court and, also, before our High Court in respect of the ongoing removal processes.”
He added that “essentially, Her Ladyship argues that by her suspension, she has effectively been removed from her official capacity without a final determination, impairing her right to function and serve in a position she was constitutionally appointed to.”
President John Mahama on April 22, 2025, suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following the setting up of a five-member committee to probe the three petitions calling for her removal from office.
The suspension followed the finding of prima facie by the Council of State following the forwarding of the three petitions by the President.
The committee is chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, a Justice of the Supreme Court, and also includes Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, Major Flora Bazaanura Dalugo and Prof. James Sefah Dzisah.
The suspended Chief Justice then filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging her suspension and the setting up of the committee of enquiry to probe three petitions calling for her removal.
She attached an application for interlocutory injunction to halt the work of the committee pending the determination of the suit she has filed.
It was dismissed by the court presided over by Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and four others. Two similar applications have also been dismissed by the court.
She has also filed a case at the High Court seeking the enforcement of her human rights in the ongoing proceedings seeking to remove her from office.
Arbitrariness
In her statement of case at the Supreme Court, she avers that President John Mahama acted arbitrarily in his decision to suspend her as a result of three petitions calling for her removal on grounds of stated ‘misbehaviour’ and ‘incompetence.’
According to her, the decision to suspend her in the absence of a reasoned prima facie determination constitutes a flagrant violation of the 1992 Constitution and the principle of fairness.
She is also challenging the constitutionality of the committee and the decision by the President to appoint Justice Pwamang as the Chairman and Justice Asiedu as a member, when Justice Pwamang had dealt personally with issues raised by two of the petitioners and Justice Asiedu on the hand was part of a panel that part-heard an application challenging the petitions.
Again, she argues that she retains the right to waive the in-camera proceedings and request that the inquiry be held in public, given the fact that the petitions and her response have been leaked and widely discussed contrary to the protective cloak demanded by the constitution.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak