{"id":95150,"date":"2025-09-21T14:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T14:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95150"},"modified":"2025-09-21T14:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T14:36:10","slug":"retire-justice-torkornoo-with-benefits-dont-remove-her-from-supreme-court-bench-ansa-asare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95150","title":{"rendered":"Retire Justice Torkornoo with benefits, don\u2019t remove her From Supreme Court bench \u2013 Ansa-Asare"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Founder of MountCrest University College and former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has called on the government to retire former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo honourably, instead of removing her from the Supreme Court bench entirely, a move he describes as unlawful and dangerous for Ghana\u2019s judiciary.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the 8th congregation of MountCrest University College on Saturday, September 21, where 137 students graduated, Mr Ansa-Asare strongly cautioned against what he termed a breach of constitutional procedure in the handling of Justice Torkornoo\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n

He explained that while Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution provides a clear process for the removal of a Chief Justice on grounds of \u201cstated misbehaviour or incompetence,\u201d the same provision does not automatically strip the individual of their substantive role as a Justice of the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proper and lawful course of action is for the former Chief Justice to be formally retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court, with all her hard-earned entitlements.
Anything less sets a bad precedent and undermines the very foundation of our judicial independence,\u201d
Mr Ansa-Asare asserted.<\/p>\n

He further drew attention to Articles 11(1)(e) and 11(2) of the Constitution, which, according to him, emphasise the application of equity alongside common law principles in Ghana\u2019s legal system.<\/p>\n

Justice Torkornoo was appointed Chief Justice on June 12, 2023, but was removed from office on September 1, 2025, following a petition alleging misuse of public funds. The petition accused her of authorising unlawful expenditures, including travel expenses for her spouse and daughter, which were paid for by the Judicial Service.<\/p>\n

A committee established under Article 146(6) investigated the matter and recommended her removal for misbehaviour. Under Article 146(9), President John Dramani Mahama was constitutionally bound to act on the committee\u2019s recommendation, leading to her dismissal.<\/p>\n

However, Mr Ansa-Asare insists that the committee\u2019s work and the presidential directive were specific to her role as Chief Justice, not her position as a Supreme Court Judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemoving her completely from the Supreme Court bench without following due constitutional process is not only unlawful but also risks politicising the judiciary,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

Under Ghana\u2019s Constitution, Supreme Court Justices are expected to retire at age 70, with the option for voluntary retirement at 60. Justice Torkornoo has not reached either threshold, making her outright removal problematic in Mr Ansa-Asare\u2019s view.<\/p>\n

Read Also: Torkonoo\u2019s removal as Supreme Court Justice unlawful \u2013 Ansa-Asare<\/p>\n

He urged the government to reconsider its position and ensure Justice Torkornoo is retired with dignity, stressing that such an approach would protect both the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence in the rule of law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must be guided by both law and equity. Let us not create a precedent that will haunt our judiciary in the years to come\u201d, he concluded.<\/p>\n

Read Also: Torkornoo challenges her removal as Justice of the Supreme Court<\/p>\n

His call comes after the former Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, filed a court action challenging her removal as a Justice of the Supreme Court by President John Dramani Mahama.<\/p>\n

In a judicial review application filed at the High Court, Justice Torkornoo contends that her removal as a Justice of the Supreme Court was unlawful, as the recommendation for her removal was in respect of her office as the Chief Justice, which followed a procedure completely different from that of the removal of a Justice of the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Reliefs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The former Chief Justice is therefore seeking an order of certiorari to quash the warrant of removal as a Justice of the Supreme Court issued by President Mahama on September 1, 2025, on the basis that it was in violation of the constitutional provisions for the removal of a Justice of the Superior Courts, and therefore unlawful, null and void.<\/p>\n

She also wants the court to declare that President Mahama lacks the power to remove a Justice of the Superior Courts from office except for the removal in accordance with Article 146 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FormerFounder of MountCrest University College and former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has called on the government to retire former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo honourably, instead of removing her from the Supreme Court bench entirely, a move he describes as unlawful and dangerous for Ghana\u2019s judiciary. Speaking at [\u2026]<\/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":[8951,1900,1831,1883,117,10,9,924],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ansa-asare","category-hp-news-2","category-justice-torkornoo","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular","category-supreme-court"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95150","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=95150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}