The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has urged the recently removed Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, to challenge her dismissal in court, insisting that the process leading to her removal was unconstitutional and fraught with irregularities.
Addressing a joint press statement with 2024 Presidential Candidate of the People’s National Party (PNP), Janet Asana Nabla, Mr. Assafuah described the Chief Justice’s removal as a “direct assault on judicial independence” and warned that the precedent set poses a grave danger to Ghana’s constitutional democracy.
He argued that under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, the procedure for the removal of a Chief Justice demands transparency, fairness, and adherence to due process.
However, he claimed that in Justice Torkornoo’s case, petitions were handled in secrecy, she was denied timely access to the allegations against her, and the prima facie determination required to justify impeachment proceedings has never been made available.
“The foundation of the entire process is hollow. The supposed prima facie determination does not exist, yet it was used to trigger a removal. That alone vitiates the proceedings,” Assafuah stressed.
He further criticized the committee chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, which found Justice Torkornoo guilty of “misbehaviour,” saying its reliance on flimsy grounds such as lawful expenditure, staff transfers, and promotions was unconstitutional.
Citing Article 187(7), he said only the Auditor-General has the mandate to determine misuse of public funds, not an ad hoc committee. “To treat routine administrative decisions as impeachable offences is to criminalize the constitutional duties of a Chief Justice,” he added.
Mr. Assafuah maintained that the President cannot absolve himself of responsibility by claiming he was a “conveyor belt” in the process. “At every stage, the President had discretion.
He chose to weaponize the Constitution to achieve a political outcome,” he charged.
Ms. Nabla, for her part, described the development as “a scar on Ghana’s democracy” and called on citizens, civil society, and legal practitioners to resist what she termed a dangerous erosion of judicial independence.
The joint statement echoed concerns previously raised by the Ghana Bar Association, former Chief Justices, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, and international observers, all of whom have questioned the legitimacy of Justice Torkornoo’s removal.
Mr. Assafuah concluded with a direct appeal to the embattled Chief Justice: “Go to court. It has not ended. A committee’s recommendation cannot, by itself, extinguish a constitutional office. For the sake of posterity, the courts must pronounce on this matter.”
