By Jonathan Ofori

Copyright asaaseradio

A former New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker has argued that the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo by President John Mahama automatically ends her role as a Supreme Court judge, despite legal challenges questioning the process.

Alex Abban, a lawyer and former MP for Gomoa West, told The Forum on Asaase Radio on Saturday (20 September) that it would be “cosmetic” to insist that separate procedures were required for the two roles.

“If your conduct as Chief Justice or as superior court justice fuses into the same individual person, then if you are genuinely removed as Chief Justice it presupposes you have also been removed as a justice of the superior court,” Abban said.

He dismissed arguments that the constitution required distinct removal processes for the two offices, noting that as Chief Justice, Mrs Torkornoo herself would have been the one to assess any petition for her removal as a justice of the superior court.

Abban further maintained that separating the procedures was “academic” and that the removal should be seen as complete.

Constitutional gaps

He however pointed to a precedent in the 2005 Supreme Court case of Agyei Twum v Attorney-General, in which Justice Darteh-Baah highlighted inconsistencies in the constitutional provisions for removing a Chief Justice compared with other superior court judges.

Abban said those judicial pronouncements should have guided President John Mahama in his handling of the petitions against Torkornoo.

“It appears that framers of the constitution in their wisdom felt that the Council of State … would look at things objectively. But I think on hindsight they were wrong,” Abban said, arguing that the Council has become “so partisan” that it cannot be relied on to safeguard judicial independence.

“And I would like all of us to cast our minds back to the council of state election that happened, almost every person who won the election had one thing to do or another with the NDC. Some of them were even constituency executives. They had no difficulty in just putting a stamp on it that let us take her away.”

Former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo filed an application challenging her removal by President John Mahama from both the office of Chief Justice and as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

At the heart of her application is the contention that the President used a single process to remove her from two distinct judicial offices, an action she argues violates the constitution.

Torkornoo’s challenge specifically targets the legal foundation of the removal process, asserting that the President cannot constitutionally use the procedure established for removing a Chief Justice under Article 146(6) to simultaneously remove her from her position as a Justice of the Supreme Court. She maintains these are separate offices requiring distinct removal procedures under the Constitution.

The application, filed under Articles 23 and 141 of the 1992 Constitution and Order 55 of C.I. 47, seeks to nullify the Warrant of Removal issued by the President on September 1, 2025, which ousted Torkornoo from both the office of Chief Justice and as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

Mrs Torkornoo’s removal followed a series of petitions submitted to the President earlier this year by Daniel Ofori, the Shinning Stars of Ghana, and Ayamga Yakubu Akolgo Esq., alleging “stated misbehaviour” and “incompetence.”

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