{"id":92911,"date":"2025-09-06T14:01:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T14:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92911"},"modified":"2025-09-06T14:01:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T14:01:34","slug":"removal-of-cj-could-have-unintended-consequences-constitutional-theorist-cautions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92911","title":{"rendered":"Removal of CJ could have unintended consequences \u2013 Constitutional theorist cautions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 36 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>A Constitutional Theorist and Associate Professor of Law at Ashesi University, \ufe0eDr. Maame A.S. Mensa-Bonsu, has urged caution in the proceedings surrounding the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.<\/p>\n<p>President John Mahama, on September 1, 2025, removed the Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from office with immediate effect on grounds of stated misbehaviour following recommendations from a constitutional committee set up under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The decision comes barely hours after the\u00a0President received the report of a committee\u00a0constituted under Article 146(6) to inquire into a petition filed by Ghanaian citizen Daniel Ofori. That was only one out of the three petitions.<\/p>\n<p>Madam Mensa-Bonsu warned that even outcomes seen as favourable in such matters can have far-reaching unintended consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on <strong>JoyNews<\/strong>\u2019 Newsfile on Saturday, September 6, she stressed that the appointment and removal of heads of the arms of government are not merely administrative or political processes, but \u201cconstitutionally foundational matters\u201d with deep institutional implications.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Read also: CJ removal: Mahama is right to act, but waiting could\u2019ve \u2018reduced noise\u2019 \u2013 Dr Mensa-Bonsu<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cRemoving a tumour can save your life,\u201d the professor explained, \u201cbut it might also leave you paralysed, or you may have to learn to speak again or learn how to use your arm again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Using the analogy of life-saving surgery, she argued that while the intention behind certain constitutional actions, such as removing a sitting Chief Justice, may be justified, the structural and institutional side effects must not be overlooked.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe should be mindful that even the good outcome in these kinds of foundational matters leaves unintended consequences,\u201d she warned. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd they have impacts that we should be very mindful about intentionally addressing,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n<p>She further added that President Mahama was within his legal right to act promptly on the recommendations of a five-member committee that investigated a petition brought forward by Ghanaian citizen Daniel Ofori.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div 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                 <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sleepy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-4\" post-id=\"92911\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Angry<\/div>\n                    <div 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                                                            <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Mensa-Bonsu-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Removal of CJ could have unintended consequences \u2013 Constitutional theorist cautions\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Removal of CJ could have unintended consequences \u2013 Constitutional theorist cautions\">A Constitutional Theorist and Associate Professor of Law at Ashesi University, \ufe0eDr. Maame A.S. Mensa-Bonsu has urged caution in the proceedings surrounding the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6612,8046,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cj","category-constitutional","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}