Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo has filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to stop the work of a presidential committee established to investigate petitions for her removal from office.
Filed on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the application requests an interlocutory injunction to suspend all activities of the six-member committee until the Supreme Court makes a final ruling on the matter.
According to court documents, Justice Torkornoo is asking the Supreme Court to issue an order restraining the committee—comprising Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo, Major Flora Bazuwaaruah Dalugo, and Professor James Sefah Dziasah—from proceeding with any inquiries relating to the petitions against her.
Additionally, the application specifically seeks to bar Justices Pwamang and Adibu-Asiedu from participating in or presiding over any of the committee’s deliberations.
Justice Torkornoo is also asking the Court to suspend the enforcement of her suspension, which was issued by President John Mahama under Article 146(10) of the Constitution, until the legal process is concluded.
The suit, filed by her legal team from Dame and Partners, is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court in the coming days.
Earlier the same day, the Supreme Court dismissed two separate suits that challenged the suspension of the Chief Justice and the legality of the investigative committee.
In a 4–1 majority decision, the Court rejected an application brought by private citizen Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey, which contested the process leading to Justice Torkornoo’s possible removal. The application was ruled to be without merit.
In another case, the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES) also sought to overturn the President’s suspension of the Chief Justice and to halt the committee’s work. That suit was likewise dismissed by a 4–1 majority.
The panel of five Supreme Court justices—Paul Baffoe-Bonnie (presiding), Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Yonny Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Yaw Asare Darko—ruled in favor of the President’s authority under the Constitution. Justice Yaw Asare Darko was the sole dissenting voice in both rulings.
CenCES had argued that the President’s actions were unconstitutional and sought a court order to invalidate the suspension and dissolve the inquiry. However, the apex court upheld the President’s decision, allowing the committee to continue its work.
