‘We are sanitising Judicial system’ – Tanko backs ruling against CJ’s injunction

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Dr. Sofo Rashid Tanko Computer, has welcomed the Supreme Court’s dismissal of an injunction application filed by suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, describing the ruling as a step towards sanitising the country’s judicial system.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Thursday, May 29, Dr. Tanko explained that the ruling, which was unanimously delivered by a panel of five Supreme Court justices, reflected the independence and credibility of the judiciary.

He emphasised that the judges involved were not appointees of the current administration, asserting that the law was applied impartially.

According to him, “The law is the law. All the judges who made this decision are seasoned justices who were not appointed by this new administration. Imagine someone trying to injunct the executive powers of the president, it is unheard of, and that’s exactly what she attempted.”

His comments follow the Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday, May 28, which dismissed an interlocutory injunction application filed by Justice Torkornoo. The suspended Chief Justice sought to halt the work of a five-member committee set up by President John Dramani Mahama to investigate petitions for her removal from office.

Justice Torkornoo’s application requested the apex court to bar the committee from conducting any hearings until the substantive legal challenge against her removal was concluded. She also sought to prevent Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, along with committee members Daniel Yao Domelevo, Major Flora Bazuwaaruah Dalugo, and Professor James Sefah Dziasah, from participating in the inquiry.

However, the Supreme Court’s rejection of her application allows the presidential committee to proceed with its mandate.

Dr. Tanko termed the suspended Chief Justice’s attempt to block the committee’s work as an effort to undermine executive authority, stating that such moves are not only unprecedented but detrimental to democratic governance.

He praised the judiciary for upholding legal principles and reinforcing checks and balances in the governance system.