Justice Gertrude Torkornoo
Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has taken a stance against calls on her to resign from her position as Chief Justice, in spite of what she describes as dark and unlawful proceedings initiated to kick her out.
According to her, despite the draconian manner in which the Gabriel Pwamang Committee hearing the three petitions calling for her removal is conducting the inquiry, she is willing to marshal through and prove how frivolous the allegations against her are.
She also indicates that voluntarily resigning or retiring while the proceedings against her was still pending will amount to acceding to the allegations and emboldening the petitioners to say that the wild and unfounded allegations in the petitions were not defended because they were true, or that she had no credible defence to them.
She supported her stance with a 2019 Supreme Court decision, and indicated that resigning or retiring while Article 146 proceedings are being conducted to remove a judge is not an option any judge or public official is even allowed to have.
Suspension
President John Mahama on April 22, 2025, suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey 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.
Justice Torkornoo has filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the decision to suspend her and the setting up of the committee to inquire into allegation made against her by two individuals and a group calling itself Shining Stars.
Violations
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, she addressed some of the human rights violations she has had to endure as a result of this probe.
Justice Torkornoo says she has chosen to respect the President’s warrant of suspension, even though it was clear to her that it was not supported by the prima facie determination required by the Constitution and decisions of the Supreme Court.
“I have chosen to honour the process set in place to hear the petitions. But I do not choose to hide from the nation that perversion of law, rules, and due process, as we all know it, are driving the proceedings, and this renders the proceedings unconstitutional. I choose to trust that such darkness will not totally engulf this nation,” she pointed out.
She said she decided to address the press because the violations of her rights have not stopped, but have escalated beyond anything she could have imagined as possible in justice delivery.
She pointed out the Committee’s failure to indicate the specific allegations in respect of which a prima case has been established, and the decision to permit two of the petitioners (Daniel Ofori and Shining Stars) not to testify to enable her cross-examine them on their petitions.
She also pointed out thorough search on her body and handbags in violation of protocols and courtesies extended to the Chief Justice in honour of the country, domestically and internationally as some of the hurdles she has been confronted with.
Emotional Torture
One of the major issues Justice Torkornoo is vehemently opposed to is the decision to hold the meetings of the Committee at the Adu Lodge at Osu Castle and the conditions under which the proceedings are being held, resulting in both emotional and mental torture.
She painfully recalled the murder of her uncle, Major Sam Acquah, the military officer killed alongside three High Court Judges, pointing out that the Adu Lodge where she is being tried featured very prominently in the planning of the murder of the Judges on June 30, 1981.
“He was my uncle and my guardian when I entered the University of Ghana in September 1980. I was also living with him at the time he was abducted and murdered. Was Adu Lodge chosen for this inquiry to make me feel insecure? I think so,” she stated.
In the midst of all the brouhaha surrounding the proceedings initiated against her, she revealed that she has received threats and veiled threats to the effect that if she fails to resign or voluntarily retire, she will be made to suffer some harm or the other.
Rules of Disclosure
Justice Torkornoo also disclosed that till date, the committee probing the petitions has refused to give her copies of the petitions that the President set up the committee to inquire into, the responses she gave, and the alleged prima facie determination that the President is supposed to have made.
Justice Torkornoo added that recent suggestions about rules being made to safeguard judges from frivolous attempts to remove them from office sounds like an attempt to assure the Judiciary that after unconstitutional and illegal means have been used to remove her, conditions will be made safer for those who help with it, or those who may feel afraid by the current occurrences.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak