Chief Justice Torkornoo Loses All Benefits After Removal – Kpebu

Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has stated that the dismissed Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, will forfeit all her entitlements following her removal from office.

Speaking on TV3 on Monday, September 1, 2025, Mr. Kpebu explained that the recommendation by the Article 146 Committee indicated that she had been found guilty of misconduct, which automatically strips her of retirement benefits.

“She loses all her entitlements because she has been found culpable for misconducting herself while in office,” Kpebu said.

He added that he had hoped the Chief Justice would have had the opportunity to resign to protect her entitlements but clarified that a Supreme Court ruling bars a respondent from resigning once a removal hearing has begun.

“I was hoping that there would be a way for her to resign, but that wasn’t the case. Once they start the hearing, the Chief Justice cannot resign,” he stressed.

President John Dramani Mahama, in a statement signed by the Minister of Government Communications, announced the removal of Justice Torkornoo in line with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution. This followed the submission of a report by the five-member inquiry committee chaired by Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang.

The committee concluded that grounds of stated misbehavior under Article 146(1) had been established and, therefore, recommended her removal.

Justice Torkornoo had earlier been suspended on April 22, 2025, after a prima facie case was established against her in three separate petitions.

The inquiry, conducted in camera, heard testimonies from over 25 witnesses and reviewed about 10,000 pages of evidence before submitting its findings to the President.

The removal of Justice Torkornoo marks the first time in Ghana’s Fourth Republic that a sitting Chief Justice has been dismissed for misconduct.