The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional process that led to the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, unanimously dismissing the consolidated suits challenging her suspension and eventual removal from office.
A seven-member panel of the apex court delivered the decision after hearing the parties, bringing to a close the latest constitutional challenge against the process undertaken under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
The ruling followed the consolidation of four separate actions into two principal cases to streamline proceedings. The suits were filed by former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Old Tafo MP Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES), and Theodore Kofi Atta Quartey.
The plaintiffs had argued that the constitutional procedures governing the suspension and removal of a Chief Justice were not properly followed. They further contended that the President’s actions under Article 146 were unconstitutional and that the process undermined judicial independence and due process.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed all the claims, effectively affirming the legality of the constitutional process that culminated in Justice Torkornoo’s removal. The Court is expected to provide the detailed reasons for its decision in its full judgment.
The ruling marks another major legal setback for the former Chief Justice, coming just days after the ECOWAS Court of Justice dismissed all seven claims she brought against the Republic of Ghana over her suspension and removal.
Justice Torkornoo was removed from office following an inquiry conducted under Article 146 after petitions alleging stated misbehaviour and incompetence were filed against her. Since then, she has pursued multiple legal challenges in both Ghanaian courts and the ECOWAS Court, all of which have now been dismissed.
The twin decisions by the Supreme Court and the ECOWAS Court effectively bring to an end the principal legal challenges mounted against the constitutional process that led to her removal as Ghana’s Chief Justice.
