Following months of legal proceedings, President John Dramani Mahama officially removed Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Sackey Torkornoo from office. The specific grounds for her removal remain undisclosed, as mandated by Article 146(8) of the 1992 Constitution. However, the three petitions filed against her provide insight into the potential reasons for her dismissal. These petitions were centered on claims of financial misconduct, controversial Supreme Court rulings, and questionable administrative decisions.
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Petition 1: Financial Misconduct Filed by Daniel Ofori
The first and most detailed petition was filed by Daniel Ofori, a private citizen. This petition, which contained 18 allegations, primarily focused on alleged financial misappropriation.
Allegations:
- Family Travel Expenses: The petition claims Justice Torkornoo used public funds to pay for the private foreign travel of her husband, Francis Kofi Torkornoo, and their daughter, Sarah Edem Amiga Torkornoo. It alleges that a total of GH¢261,890.00 was spent on business class air tickets and US$30,000 in per diem allowances for these trips, even though her family members were not entitled to have their travel expenses covered by the Judicial Service.
- Tanzania Trip: The petition specifically mentions a 2023 vacation to Arusha, Tanzania, where she allegedly spent GH¢75,580.00 from public funds on Ethiopian Airlines tickets for herself and her husband. She is also accused of receiving an accountable imprest of US$14,000 for this trip, which she has not refunded.
- United States Trip: In another instance, it is alleged that her daughter’s ticket for a trip to the United States was upgraded at a cost of GH¢109,482.00, with a per diem of US$10,000.
- Judicial Audit Report: Reports indicate that an audit of the Judicial Service found that both Justice Torkornoo and her predecessor, Justice Anin Yeboah, misused public funds for “luxury family trips, sidelining official security arrangements.”
Petition 2: Questionable Judgments Filed by Shining Stars
A separate petition filed by a group called Shining Stars accused the Chief Justice of issuing questionable judgments in cases she presided over.
Allegations:
- Breach of Natural Justice: The petition focused on her ruling in a suit filed by Minority Leader Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin against the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, concerning the declaration of four seats in Parliament as vacant. Shining Stars argued that the court’s decision to overturn the Speaker’s judgment did not follow due process and constituted a major breach of the rules of natural justice, which is a constitutional right under Article 23. The petition concluded that this breach amounted to “incompetence,” a ground for removal.
- Ecobank Ghana Limited Case: Another allegation, reported by theheraldghana.com, involved a case where a Supreme Court panel led by Justice Torkornoo allegedly acknowledged the merit of a complainant’s case against Ecobank Ghana Limited but decided not to rule in their favor out of concern that a ruling might “collapse the financial institution.”
Petition 3: Questionable Administrative Decisions Filed by Ayamga Akolgo
The third petition was filed by a senior police officer, Ayamga Akolgo, who accused Justice Torkornoo of violating the ethics of the bench and abusing her administrative powers.
Allegations:
- Unlawful Arrest and Detention: Akolgo alleged that Justice Torkornoo wrongly caused his arrest and detention. He described her actions as “capricious, unreasonable, unilateral, and without justification,” arguing that this constituted “stated misbehavior and incompetence” as provided in Article 146(1). He further claimed that her actions infringed upon his rights and caused him “pain, trauma, and humiliation.”
- Falsification of Records: The petition also accused her of failing to perform her judicial duty by not recording the incident in the court’s record book. Additionally, he alleged that she “authorised, supervised, and approved false statements or false entries in the search report,” with the intention to “deceive, cover up, obstruct, or pervert the course of justice.” These actions, he argued, amounted to “criminal fabrication of evidence.”
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