AfriPulse
The founder of MountCrest University College and former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Mr. Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has questioned the legality of the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo from her position as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Speaking at the 8th congregation of the Ghana School of Law where 137 students graduated.
Mr. Ansa-Asare warned that the government’s decision could set a dangerous and unconstitutional precedent.
He argued that while the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, under Article 146, outlines the procedure for removing a Chief Justice for “stated misbehaviour or incompetence,” that process does not extend to removing the individual from the Supreme Court altogether unless a separate and specific process is followed.
“Article 146 provides for removal from the office of Chief Justice, but it does not equate to removal as a Justice of the Supreme Court,” he said. “To strip her of both roles without following due process is legally unfounded.”
Mr. Ansa-Asare urged the government to uphold the Constitution and follow proper legal procedures, stressing that any deviation threatens judicial independence and the rule of law.
“I think that we administered common law rules, obedience of equitable principles. Our law insists not only on common law rules but also on equitable principles,” he stated, referring to Articles 11(1)(e) and 11(2) of the Constitution, which he said underscore the importance of equity in Ghana’s legal system.
Mr Ansa-Asare urged the government to honourably retire Justice Torkornoo and provide her with all her entitlements, rather than remove her.
Her removal from the Supreme Court, he warned, would set a bad precedent for the judiciary and could be perceived as a politically motivated attack on judicial independence.
Under the Constitution, Supreme Court Justices are required to retire at the age of 70, with an option to retire voluntarily at age 60.
Justice Torkornoo, who was appointed as Chief Justice on June 12, 2023, and was removed from office on September 1, 2025, has not reached the mandatory retirement age.
He reiterated his position: “My advice is that the former chief justice be formally retired as a justice of the Supreme Court so that she can take a hard-earned entitlement.”
Justice Torkornoo’s removal followed petitions alleging that she misused public funds by authorising unlawful expenditures, including covering travel expenses for her spouse and daughter through the Judicial Service.
A committee, constituted under Article 146(6), investigated the petition and recommended her removal for “misbehaviour”, a recommendation that President John Dramani Mahama was constitutionally bound to act on under Article 146(9).
However, critics like Mr Ansa-Asare are now questioning whether the scope of the committee’s recommendation and the subsequent presidential action can extend to her removal from the Supreme Court itself, given that the petition was specifically for her removal as Chief Justice.
Source: TheGhanaReport | Read the Full Story…
