Ghana’s legal and political landscape has been thrown into turmoil following President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from office, a move that many fear undermines judicial independence and constitutional safeguards.
The removal, announced on September 1 after a five-member committee recommended her dismissal for stated misbehaviour, has provoked strong criticism from legal experts, civil society organisations, and opposition parties.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has branded the decision unconstitutional, pointing to the president’s failure to publish a Constitutional Instrument or guidelines under Article 296 to regulate the discretionary powers exercised in the process. Similarly, the Centre for Democratic Movement (CDM) warned that the inquiry lacked impartiality, citing the politically sensitive composition of the committee.
“This decision breaches constitutional norms and strikes at the heart of judicial independence,” CDM declared, urging Ghanaians to see the matter as a threat to democratic checks and balances.
Justice Torkornoo herself has described the process as “arbitrary” and “cruel,” vowing not to resign in order to preserve her right to defend herself. “To resign would have been to forfeit justice,” she maintained.
The removal followed months of controversy that began on April 22, 2025, when President Mahama suspended Torkornoo after a prima facie case was established from three undisclosed petitions. A committee chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, and including Justice Samuel Adibu-Asiedu, former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo, Major Flora Dalugo, and Professor James Sefah-Dzisah, was tasked to investigate.
While government insists the process followed Article 146 of the Constitution, critics argue that the opaque handling of the inquiry has eroded public trust in both the presidency and the judiciary.
Justice Sophia Akuffo, a former Chief Justice and member of the Council of State, has also weighed in, calling the ordeal a “political witch-hunt” and a dangerous precedent. “She did not get a fair trial—it was handled as though it were a treason case,” Akuffo warned.
With Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie now acting as Chief Justice, the controversy has opened a new front in Ghana’s democratic debate: whether the executive branch is overreaching into judicial territory, threatening the delicate balance of power on which the republic stands.
