Ghanaian citizen files interlocutory injunction to nullify Chief Justice probe committee
The injunction application on the CJ was filed on 20 May at the Supreme Court registry and it is expected to be heard on Wednesday 21 May
A Ghanaian citizen, Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey, has filed an interlocutory injunction against the five-member committee established by President John Dramani Mahama to investigate three petitions submitted against the Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
The injunction application was filed at the Supreme Court registry on Tuesday, 20 May 2025. The motion paper was filed and signed by Ibrahim-Anyass Muhammed, Esq., the applicant’s lawyer. The application was filed against the Attorney General. The motion is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court today, 21 May 2025.
Reliefs sought
The applicant, Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey, is seeking five reliefs according to the indorsement on the writ invoking the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction.
First is “a declaration that under Articles 23, 146(6), and 296(b) and (c) of the 1992 constitution, the exercise of discretionary power or authority by the President in determining the existence or otherwise of a prima facie case in respect of petitions for the removal of the Chief Justice ought to be regulated by a published constitutional instrument”.
Second, “A declaration that pursuant to Articles 23, 146(6), and 296(b) and (c) of the 1992 constitution, the constitutional role of the Council of State in assisting the president to determine the existence of a prima facie case and to be consulted on the appointment of a committee of inquiry under Article 146 (6), must equally be subject to transparent regulation by a published constitutional instrument.
Third, “a declaration that in light of Articles 23, 146(6) and (7), and 296() and (c) of the 1992 constitution, the proceedings of the committee of inquiry established under Article 146(6) to investigate petitions for the removal of the Chief Justice must be governed by a published constitutional instrument which shall prescribe the procedures, scope, and limits of its discretionary powers”.
Fourth, “an order nullifying the entire proceedings arising from and relating to the petitions submitted for the removal of the Chief Justice, particularly, the determination of the prima facie case by the president with the advice of the Council of State, the suspension of the Chief Justice, and the establishment of the committee of inquiry under Article 146(6) of the 1992 constitution, for failing first to satisfy the provisions of Articles 296(c) and 11(7) of the 1992 constitution”.
Lastly, the applicant wants the Supreme Court to give any other order(s), declaration(s), direction(s), or consequential relief(s) as the court may deem just to protect the institutional independence of the Judiciary.
Background
The Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, was suspended from office by the President of the Republic, John Dramani Mahama, on 22 April through a statement issued by the Minister in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu (MP).
The president’s actions, which are said to be grounded in Article 146 (10) of the 1992 constitution, were primarily inspired by three petitions that the president received seeking the removal of the Chief Justice from office.
A group calling itself Shining Stars of Ghana submitted the first petition to the president on 14 February 2025. Kingsley Agyei, who describes himself as the chairman and convenor of the Shining Stars of Ghana, signed the petition.
The second petition, presented to the president by Daniel Ofori, is dated Monday 17 March 2025. The petitioner essentially states 21 allegations of misbehaviour and four allegations of incompetence, all of which relate to the Chief Justice’s discharge of her administrative roles and functions as head of the judiciary.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ayamga Yakubu Akolgo (Esq), a senior police officer in the Ghana Police Service stationed at the National Police Headquarters in Accra, is the third and final petitioner to submit a petition to the president for the removal of the Chief Justice from office. Akolgo’s submission was also made on 14 February 2025.
Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra
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