Committee probing Chief Justice Torkornoo's removal petitions to begin hearings tomorrow
The five-member committee probing the three petitions asking that the Chief Justice, Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo should be removed from office will begin hearings from Thursday, May 15, 2025.
According to Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, hearings of this nature shall be in camera.
The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications and spokesperson for the President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu in a press statement issued Wednesday evening [May 14, 2025] indicated that the hearings will commence Thursday, May 15, 2025.
The five-member committee is chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu indicated in the press statement that the committee will sit three times a week and present their recommendations to the President upon completion of their work.
President John Dramani Mahama set up the committee in accordance with Article 146(6) of the 1992 constitution following a determination of a prima facie case against the Chief Justice in the three petitions.
Read also: Names of petitioners, full allegations and her official responses leak online
No time frame for committee probing petition against Chief Justice Torkornoo to finish work but... - Felix Kwakye Ofosu
In an earlier media interview on April 22, 2025, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu had indicated that there was no time frame for the committee probing the three petitions to finish its work.
But it was expected that the committee will act within a reasonable time frame, he said.
He said the committee's work was to start immediately, but it was not clear how long the work will take in terms of investigating the allegations in the petition and making a determination.
"The constitution does not impose timelines and I [Felix Kwakye Ofosu] believe that these [members of committee] are experienced people, we have two eminent jurists, very senior jurists who are on the Supreme Court [bench], so [they] have capacity in my view to establish a process that is conducive enough for the Chief Justice to be given sufficient time and space to answer to the claims made against her in the petition," the minister of state said.
"I do not anticipate that they will go beyond a reasonable time frame, even though I cannot give you a specific time frame, because no such time is prescribed by the constitution," he added.
Responding specifically to a question on whether in appointing the members of the committee, President Mahama gave any time limits within which they could work Mr Kwakye Ofosu said, "No such time limits were given, it is expected that they will act within a reasonable time because the president cannot do anything that is not prescribed by the constitution, the constitution does not impose any timelines," the minister added.
Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo was nominated to the Supreme Court in November 2019 and received parliamentary approval in December 2019.
She started working as Chief Justice in June 2023 following the retirement of Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah.
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Prior to that, she had been working as High Court judge from May 2004 and was elevated to the Court of Appeal in October 2012.
Following the determination of a prima facie case in the three petitions asking for the removal from office of Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, President Mahama on April 22, 2025 suspended her and set up a five-member committee to inquire into the petitions.
The committee is chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, a Justice on the Supreme Court bench.
Other members are Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, also a Justice on the Supreme Court bench, who was appointed in 2022.
Others in the five-member committee are Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, a former Auditor-General, Major Flora Bazaanura Dalugo from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), and Professor James Sefah Dzisah, an associate Professor at the University of Ghana.
There are three petitions asking that Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo should be removed from office for "stated misbehaviour" in line with the 1992 Constitution.
Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh
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