Former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansah Asare, has urged Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkonoo to take her removal from office in good faith.
According to him, the development should not be viewed with bitterness, but rather with the understanding that the nation’s constitution has spoken. “The rule of law has spoken and we should all accept it,” he emphasized, adding that “she should accept it in a good manner.”
His comments come in the wake of Justice Torkonoo’s removal as Chief Justice, an action taken by President John Dramani Mahama after receiving the final report of the five-member committee that investigated petitions of stated misbehaviour.
A statement from the presidency on Monday, September 1, 2025, confirmed that the removal was in line with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, which compels the President to act in accordance with the recommendations of such a committee.
The committee, chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang of the Supreme Court, concluded that the petitions against Justice Torkonoo were established. Their findings were presented to the presidency earlier in the day, prompting swift executive action.
Justice Torkonoo, who was appointed in June 2023, thus became the first Chief Justice in the Fourth Republic to be removed under this constitutional provision. She had earlier been suspended in April 2025 pending the outcome of the probe.
Kwaku Ansah Asare, while acknowledging the speed of the process, advised that the former Chief Justice should not allow that aspect to affect her response to the development. He maintained that “the entire process has the support of the 1992 Constitution.”
Justice Torkonoo’s judicial career spans back to 2004, where she first served as one of the pioneering judges of the Commercial Division of the High Court. She later played a key role in judicial reforms, particularly in automation, digitalization, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
