Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo has alleged that she has received multiple threats urging her to resign or suffer harm, following petitions filed to remove her from office.
Speaking publicly for the first time since her suspension, Justice Torkornoo said, “I have heard on several occasions, from loved ones, persons who care, persons who may not know me beyond my public duties.
“And many who think that, since it is clear that the current proceedings seem to be carefully staged to result in my removal as Chief Justice, it would be best if I just retired or resigned, rather than subject myself to an ill-motivated process.” She added that veiled threats had been made against her safety if she failed to step down.
The Chief Justice, who addressed the nation on Wednesday, June 25, described the actions against her as part of “a political agenda to remove me and control the Judiciary,” noting widespread media commentary to that effect.
“I thank all those who have engaged in this conversation out of concern for my safety and well-being,” she said.
Dismissing suggestions that she is clinging to power, Justice Torkornoo emphasised her long service to the legal profession,
“As a lawyer of 38 years standing, a judge of 21 years standing, and Chief Justice of Ghana who has served in the rule of law all of my working life, I consider it my onerous duty and obligation to speak up concerning the administration of justice in this country.”
She said the ordeal had opened her eyes to “a model of injustice that I would never have thought possible if I had not been exposed to it,” and declared her intent “to marshal every effort, in law and leadership, to answer to this situation.”
The Chief Justice explained that under Ghana’s Constitution, judges cannot simply resign while Article 146 proceedings used to remove high office holders are underway. She referenced Supreme Court case J6/02/2019, noting: “There is a decided case on the subject… No one has the authority to walk away from proceedings started by the State.”
She warned that resigning mid-process would not only forfeit her entitlements but would also allow false claims to go unchallenged.
“A judge who resigns or retires would still lose all entitlements because they failed to defend the claims and resigned or retired while the proceedings were going on.”
“If false claims are made against a judge or any commissioner or other public office holder… the solution cannot be to resign or voluntarily retire out of frustration, pressure or fear,” she said.
“One would only find themselves being subjected to two cruelties – a judgment based on false claims, and loss of everything that one has worked for.”
Justice Torkornoo stated that any such resignation would wrongly imply that “this flawed, unknown and opaque process is acceptable. It is not.”
“The current bizarre proceedings I have brought to your attention presents a twist to our nation’s democratic journey that we ignore only at great cost, ” she stated.
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