Ghanaian lawyer and New Patriotic Party affiliate Kow Essuman has raised strong concerns about the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo by President John Dramani Mahama, describing the process as unfair, politically tainted, and legally questionable.
In a detailed post, Essuman alleged that the Chief Justice’s dismissal was based on “frivolous grounds” and determined by a “biased committee” that denied her basic rights under the rules of natural justice. According to him, the committee’s chairman had previously ruled in favor of the petitioner in Supreme Court cases where the Chief Justice had dissented, thereby compromising the committee’s neutrality.
Essuman also took issue with the government’s refusal to make the committee’s report public. “Why hasn’t the President released the report of the committee?” he asked, arguing that the delay raises suspicions about the legitimacy of the findings. “Is the committee above the law? Release the report for everyone to scrutinise it,” he demanded.
He maintained that the Chief Justice was not guilty of misconduct or incompetence as required by the Constitution for removal. “How do you end the career of a distinguished jurist on these frivolous grounds? It is simply unconscionable,” he wrote.
Essuman further praised Justice Torkornoo for taking legal steps to challenge the process in court. “I commend Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo for fighting and continuing to fight. I commend her for believing in the rule of law and using the courts to review the actions of the committee,” he said, calling her persistence “a fight for the Judiciary, the third arm of government.”
