MP files application at Supreme Court to stop suspension of Chief Justice

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking an order to halt the operation of the warrant, issued by President John Dramani Mahama, which suspended from office the Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, pending an investigation into several petitions against Her Ladyship.

On Tuesday (22 April), President Mahama suspended the Chief Justice from office and constituted a five-member committee, chaired by a justice of the Supreme Court, Gabriel Pwamang, to investigate various allegations, made against the Chief Justice by five petitioners who submitted their petitions to the president between 14 February and 2 April 2025.

The MP, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, is seeking two essential reliefs from the Supreme Court through the application, filed by his lawyer Godfred Yeboah Dame, the former attorney general.

It is expected the application will be moved in court on Tuesday 6 May 2025.

Reliefs sought

First is “an order restraining any step or action from being purportedly taken as part of the processes for the removal of the Chief Justice under Article 146(10) or in any manner until the hearing and final determination of the instant action”.

Second, it seeks “an order suspending the operation of the warrant for suspension of the Chief Justice purportedly issued by the president under Article 146(10) of the constitution [of] 1992, until the hearing and final determination of the instant action”.

Vincent Ekow Assafuah further asks the court for “any other orders the court may deem fit”.

Applicant’s contention

It is the MP’s contention that the actions of the president and the Council of State thus far “are a blatant violation of the constitutionally stipulated safeguards for protecting the security of tenure of the Chief Justice and interfere with the independence of the judiciary under the constitution, as well as the legitimate expectation of due process”.

Assafuah further argues that: “The manner in which the president and Council of State have handled the three petitions against the Chief Justice confirms that the purported Article 146 proceedings instituted against the Chief Justice are a charade, a farce and merely choreographed to achieve the declared intention of the government and associates of the current government to remove the Chief Justice at all costs.”

Assafuah also indicates in his motion that: “Should the impugned processes under Article 146 be allowed to proceed and concluded before the instant action is heard, same will undermine the rule of law, the constitution and the power of the judiciary in discharging is constitutional duty of determining disputes between all persons in Ghana once its jurisdiction is properly invoked.”

CJ’s judicial record

Chief Justice Torkornoo was sworn in as the 15th Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana on 12 June 2023. She succeeded the former Chief Justice Anin Yeboah (rtd).

Before being appointed Chief Justice, she had served over 19 years on the bench, initially in the high court, then at the Court of Appeal, and finally at the Supreme Court.

In 2004, the second president of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, appointed her to the high court, where she served for eight years.

In October 2012, the fourth president of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama (today once again president), appointed her a justice of the Court of Appeal, a position she held for seven years. On 17 December 2019, President Akufo-Addo appointed her to the Supreme Court.

This means that all three living presidents have contributed to her judicial advancement.

Profile of CJ Torkornoo

Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo hails from Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. She was born on 11 September 1962 in Cape Coast. She received her secondary education at Wesley Girls’ High School (for her O’-Level certificate) and Achimota School (for her A’-Level certificate).

She received her tertiary education at the University of Ghana and completed the Ghana School of Law in 1986. Before joining Fugar & Co, a law firm in Accra, as a pupil associate, Torkornoo volunteered at the FIDA Legal Aid Service and served her internship at Nabarro Nathanson in London.

She returned to Fugar & Co in 1994 to become its director. In January 1997, she became a managing partner at Sozo Law Consult until May 2004, when she was appointed a justice of the High Court of Ghana. She worked as a high court judge until October 2012, when she was elevated to the Court of Appeal.

She had been a justice of the Court of Appeal until her nomination for the Supreme Court Judge role in November 2019. She was sworn into office on 17 December 2019.

Before her appointment as a justice of the Supreme Court, Torkornoo held several leadership positions, including supervising judge of the commercial courts, chair of the editorial committee of the Association of Magistrates and Judges, and chief editor of the Development of Judicial Ethics Training Manual.

She is also vice-chair of the e-justice steering/oversight committee, vice-chair of the internship and clerkship programme for the judiciary, a faculty member of the Judicial Training Institute, and a member of its governing board.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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