The suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo
Counsel for the suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has initiated legal action at the Supreme Court seeking the removal of Justices Gabriel Pwamang and Samuel Adibu-Asiedu from the five-member committee constituted by President John Dramani Mahama to investigate petitions for her removal from office.
In the suit filed on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the Chief Justice is also requesting an interlocutory injunction to halt all proceedings of the committee pending the final determination of the case.
The committee, set up under Article 146 of the Constitution, includes Justices Pwamang and Adibu-Asiedu, as well as Daniel Yao Domelevo, Major Flora Bazuwaaruah Dalugo, and Professor James Sefah Dziasah.
The Chief Justice further wants the Supreme Court to restrain the entire committee from continuing any inquiry into the petitions lodged against her.
Additionally, the suit specifically seeks to bar Justices Pwamang and Adibu-Asiedu from participating in or presiding over any aspect of the committee’s deliberations.
She is also asking the Court to suspend the operation of the presidential warrant for her suspension, issued under Article 146(10), until the case is fully resolved.
This legal action, filed by her legal team at Dame and Partners, comes in the wake of two failed attempts by other parties to challenge the same proceedings.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court, by a 4–1 majority, dismissed an application by a private citizen, Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey, who sought to challenge the legality of the suspension and the pending proceedings.
That application was deemed unmeritorious and was thrown out on Wednesday, May 21.
In a related case, the Court also dismissed a suit filed by the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES), which similarly sought to invalidate President Mahama’s suspension of the Chief Justice and the ongoing work of the committee.
That decision was also reached by a 4–1 majority, with Justice Yaw Asare Darko as the sole dissenter.
The Supreme Court panel in that case was composed of Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie (Presiding), Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Yonny Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Yaw Asare Darko.
While the Court upheld the President’s constitutional authority to initiate the suspension and form the committee, the latest suit by the Chief Justice introduces a new dimension by challenging the composition of the committee itself.
Following the determination of a prima facie case in the three petitions asking for the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo from office, President John Dramani Mahama suspended her and set up the five-member committee to inquire into the petitions.
In the interim, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie of the Supreme Court has assumed the role of acting Chief Justice.
See the court documents below:
JKB/MA
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