The Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES) has taken a bold legal step by filing a writ at Ghana’s Supreme Court to halt the presidential-appointed five-member committee investigating petitions against the Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
The organization is also seeking to have the suspension warrant issued by President John Dramani Mahama declared unconstitutional and invalid.
In the suit filed on May 15, 2025, CenCES argues that the President’s determination of a prima facie case against the Chief Justice and subsequent suspension on April 22, 2025, violate several constitutional provisions, including the fundamental principles protecting judicial independence and due process under the 1992 Constitution.
The writ targets the Attorney General, the Chief Justice herself, and Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, chairman of the presidential investigative committee. CenCES contends that the President’s actions infringe on Articles 17, 23, 125, 127, 146, and 296 of the Constitution, asserting that the suspension and probe lack the required constitutional basis and procedural fairness.
Among the key reliefs sought, CenCES demands that the Supreme Court:
Declare the President’s communication establishing a prima facie case against the Chief Justice as void due to unconstitutional executive interference.
Restrain the committee from continuing its investigation into the three petitions against the Chief Justice.
Nullify the suspension warrant as arbitrary, capricious, and unconstitutional.
The legal challenge emerges against the backdrop of three petitions filed earlier this year calling for the removal of the Chief Justice on grounds of alleged misbehavior and incompetence. These petitions were submitted by groups and individuals, including the Shining Stars of Ghana, Kingsley Agyei, Daniel Ofori, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Ayamga Yakubu Akolgo.
The President’s suspension of the Chief Justice, grounded in Article 146 (10) of the 1992 Constitution, has sparked intense debate around the separation of powers and the protection of judicial independence in Ghana’s democracy.
CenCES’s intervention seeks to uphold the constitutional safeguards designed to protect judicial officers from undue political interference, reinforcing the principle that any inquiry or removal process must follow strictly defined constitutional protocols.
The Supreme Court is now tasked with determining the constitutionality of the President’s suspension of the Chief Justice and the legality of the investigative committee’s mandate, decisions that carry significant implications for the balance of power and the rule of law in Ghana.
