Ghanaian President John Mahama has suspended the country’s Supreme Court chief justice – a move that marks a first in the country’s history.
An investigation has been launched and three undisclosed petitions have been filed making allegations against Gertrude Torkornoo, calling for her permanent removal.
Chief justices in Ghana enjoy security of tenure – meaning they can only be removed from office on a few grounds, which include incompetence and misbehaviour.
The content of the petitions has not been made public and she is yet to comment, while Ghana’s former attorney general has claimed her suspension is an attempt to undermine the judiciary.
“I think it is a complete charade,” Godfred Yeboah Dame told the BBC.
“It’s the biggest assault on the [judiciary] in the nation’s history, the greatest assault on the independence of the judiciary under the constitutional dispensation of this country.”
Ms Torkornoo is Ghana’s third female chief justice and was nominated in 2023 by former president Nana Akufo-Addo.
It is her responsibility to oversee the administration of justice in Ghana.
According to news agency Reuters, Ms Torkornoo survived a removal request earlier this year when former President Akufo-Addo said a petition to have her dismissed had “several deficiencies”.
Copies of the three recently filed petitions against Ms Torkornoo were not initially made available to her.
But some lawyers argued that withholding the documents was a violation of Ms Torkornoo’s right to a fair hearing.
Copies of the petition were subsequently made available to the chief justice, allowing her to respond to the allegations privately and in writing.
Ms Torkornoo will be invited by the five-member committee to respond again to the petitions before a final decision is reached as to whether she should be removed from office or not.
