Minority decries CJ Torkornoo’s removal as subjugation of Judiciary by Executive
By Eugene Davis
The Minority Caucus says the removal of Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo from office must be commemorated as the day in which the judicial branch of Ghana’s political institutions was finally subjugated by the executive, stressing that “It must live in infamy”.
According to the Minority Legal Counsel, John Darko, the caucus is shocked by the decision of President John Dramani Mahama to remove the Chief Justice from office following the report of the committee set up by the president to investigate the Chief Justice.
In a statement issued and circulated to the press, it indicated “Our caucus, even though were aware of the machinations of the administration to remove the chief justice; we still held the belief that the president will appeal to his better angels to act virtuously for the sake of the nation.
This flagrant assault on the Judiciary by the head of the Executive branch of the government brings into sharp focus the destruction of the state institutions by this administration. Ghana thus, join the unenviable group of nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka which have removed their chief justices for political purposes.”
Further, the caucus contend that from the president’s address to NDC lawyers and the several claims by the NDC’s Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia to the effect that Justice Torkonoo and the Chair of the Electoral Commission must be removed at all cost during the 2024 campaign, this removal of the CJ forms part of the grand agenda of the NDC to bastardize the institutions of state to enable them run the country as a gangster town.
They noted “KNOW YE ALL MEN that the removal of the CJ has nothing to do with legal constitutional process, it has everything to do with politics and the president’s inordinate desire to control all the levers of government. It is a judicial coup clothed in flawed constitutional procedures.
By this singular act of the president, he has set the country back in our democratic process and all well-meaning Ghanaians, including our revered chiefs, the clergy and the media must condemn this coup in no uncertain terms.”
The President announced the dismissal on Monday, September 1, 2025, following a recommendation by a commission of inquiry he had appointed. Justice Torkornoo, Ghana’s third female Chief Justice and the first to be investigated and removed from office, had been on suspension since April after three separate petitions were filed against her.
According to the presidency, the inquiry established “grounds of stated misbehaviour” and recommended her removal. The President was therefore “required to act in accordance with the committee’s recommendations.”
The panel reviewed more than 10,000 pages of evidence from 13 witnesses, including petitioner Daniel Ofori. Justice Torkornoo testified in her own defense and called 12 witnesses, including expert voices. However, two of the three petitions against her remain unresolved.
The inquiry accused her of unlawful use of public funds, citing allowances allegedly paid to her spouse and daughter during private trips to Tanzania in 2023 and the United States. She was also cited for procedural breaches in the appointment of Supreme Court judges and abuse of authority in the transfer of a judiciary employee.
Justice Torkornoo has firmly rejected the allegations, describing them as unfounded and politically motivated. Critics warn that her dismissal could set a dangerous precedent, eroding judicial independence and weakening the principle of security of tenure that protects Ghana’s judges.
Appointed by former President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2023, Justice Torkornoo’s removal marks an unprecedented moment in Ghana’s legal history—one that continues to stir debate over the balance of power between the executive and the judiciary.
Gertrude Torkornoo was Ghana’s third female former chief justice
John Darko – Minority Legal Counsel
