Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo has revealed that she has taken legal steps to challenge what she describes as troubling constitutional violations in the process initiated for her removal from office.
Speaking during a press conference, the embattled CJ disclosed that she has filed a case at the Supreme Court, seeking to have the proceedings of the committee handling her removal opened to the public, rather than held behind closed doors.
“In order to address the troubling violations of the Constitution and illegality of the proceedings that had become obvious from the beginning of the process, I started an action in the Supreme Court,” she said.
Justice Torkornoo explained that her decision was informed by what she perceives to be clear breaches of her rights from the very onset of her suspension and throughout the committee’s hearing process. She described these developments as a direct threat to judicial accountability and public trust.
“I applied for the proceedings of the committee set up by His Excellency the President to be held in public, so that the violations of my rights that had already become manifest… will not be shrouded in secrecy,” she added.
The suspended Chief Justice stressed that while the Constitution provides for in-camera hearings in judicial removal processes, the intention was not to shield any hidden motives or wrongdoing from public scrutiny.
“I asked for a public hearing, because I know that the secrecy of the proceedings for removing Judges was not created in the Constitution to be used as a cover-up for any agenda,” she asserted.
