Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo has dragged the state to the Supreme Court, seeking several reliefs, including the removal of two Supreme Court Justices—Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Adibu-Asiedu—from the committee probing petitions for her removal from office.
In a writ filed on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, by her lawyer, former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame, the embattled Chief Justice argues that President John Dramani Mahama’s suspension of her was unconstitutional, arbitrary, and violated her right to a fair trial.
She is also asking the apex court to declare the President’s determination of a prima facie case against her “arbitrary, capricious, in violation of the right of the Plaintiff to a fair trial, and therefore unconstitutional, void and of no effect.”
Significantly, the Chief Justice is seeking orders barring Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, Chairman of the five-member committee, and Justice Samuel Adibu-Asiedu, a member of the committee, from participating in the impeachment probe.
According to her, Justice Pwamang lacks the impartiality required to chair the committee, alleging that he has previously ruled in favour of one of the petitioners, businessman Daniel Ofori, in multiple cases.
She further argues that Justice Adibu-Asiedu is unqualified to serve on the committee since he was already a member of a Supreme Court panel hearing an interlocutory injunction related to her impeachment process before his appointment to the committee.
The suspended CJ is also asking the court to affirm her constitutional right to a public hearing of the petitions and the option to waive a private hearing.
Justice Torkornoo is also requesting a declaration that her suspension by the President be set aside and that she be granted a fair and transparent hearing.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
