Sam Okudzeto, a former member of the Council of State, has questioned if President John Mahama will reinstate Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following the conclusion of an ongoing investigation into many petitions that were filed against her.
Speaking to TV3 in Accra, Mr. Okudzeto admitted that the President suspended the Chief Justice after a committee was formed to look into the petitions, acting within the bounds of the Constitution.
Even if the committee finds the Chief Justice not guilty, the legal eminence voiced doubt that she would take up her position again.
“The President has the power to reinstate that person [the Chief Justice],” he said. “But of course, I don’t see it happening in this case.”
In accordance with Article 146(6) of the 1992 Constitution, which requires the establishment of a committee to investigate a superior court judge if a prima facie case is established, and on the recommendation of the Council of State, the Chief Justice was suspended on April 23, 2025.
Although the constitutional framework is being followed, Mr. Okudzeto pointed out that there are suspicions of intervention given the timing and emergence of several petitions, especially after a similar one was rejected under previous President Akufo-Addo.
He noted that during the Akufo-Addo administration, he served on the Council of State, and that following consultations, the initial petition to remove Justice Torkornoo was denied.
“It was dealt with by the Council of State, and the Council of State [at the time] said it found no merit in the petition, so it was recommended to be dismissed,” Mr. Okudzeto explained on Tuesday.
According to him, the sudden resurgence of new petitions under the current government is concerning.
“But then the question is that when people are bent on someone, you find that other people will be writing petitions. Personally, I feel this is a dangerous thing for any democracy when the public is allowed or, sometimes, when people say the public has a right. Yes, the question, of course, is that the public’s right is sometimes also suspicious, in the sense that not everybody understands the judicial system or the way it works,” he added.
