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Ghana’s President John Mahama Tuesday, April 22, 2025, took the unprecedented step of suspending Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, a move that has ignited a heated debate about judicial independence and the rule of law in the West African nation.
This landmark decision, announced on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, follows the filing of three undisclosed petitions seeking Justice Torkornoo’s removal. Ghanaian law grants Chief Justices security of tenure, allowing their removal only on specific grounds such as incompetence or misconduct.
The precise details of the allegations contained within the petitions remain confidential. Chief Justice Torkornoo, who assumed the role of overseeing Ghana’s judicial administration in 2023 following her nomination by former President Nana Akufo-Addo, has not yet publicly addressed the situation. She is the third woman to hold this high office in Ghana.
The suspension has drawn strong criticism from some quarters. Former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame characterized the action as a grave assault on the judiciary. “I think it is a complete charade,” Dame told the BBC, describing it as “the biggest assault on the [judiciary] in the nation’s history, the greatest assault on the independence of the judiciary under the constitutional dispensation of this country.”
This is not the first challenge to Chief Justice Torkornoo’s position. Earlier in the year, a prior petition for her removal was deemed to have “several deficiencies” by former President Akufo-Addo.
Initially, Justice Torkornoo was not provided with copies of the current petitions against her, a move that some legal experts argued violated her right to a fair hearing. Subsequently, the petitions were made available, and she has submitted a written response to the allegations.
The process will now move forward with a five-member committee, which will invite Chief Justice Torkornoo to respond to the petitions. Following this, the committee will make a final determination on whether or not she should be removed from office.
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