Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, appears to have further politicised her suspension by filing an application at the Supreme Court, seeking to restrain a committee established by President John Dramani Mahama, to investigate multiple petitions calling for her removal from office.
Godfred Yeboah Dame, the former Attorney General under President Akufo-Addo’s administration, is her legal counsel.
Given his previous role in Torkornoo’s appointment, his involvement has prompted concerns about a potential conflict of interest. Mr Dame, however, has firmly denied any such conflict.
The controversy follows a protest organised by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against Justice Torkornoo’s suspension. The demonstration was preceded by several press conferences led by prominent party figures, including the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and Suame MP John Darko.
Adding to the furore, NPP activist Alfred Ababio Kumi has petitioned President John Mahama to dissolve the committee probing the Chief Justice. He alleged that three Supreme Court Justices were spotted meeting at Santoku Restaurant, located within the Villagio apartment complex, on Thursday, 15 May 2025, purportedly discussing the ongoing investigation.
These developments have drawn criticism from legal experts such as Kwaku Ansa-Asare, former Director of the Ghana School of Law, who questioned the optics of Mr Dame’s involvement.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsnite, Mr Ansa-Asare argued that the former Attorney General’s previous advisory role to the President during Torkornoo’s appointment raises concerns about impartiality.
Also speaking on Newsnite, Mr Dame dismissed the allegations as unfounded and lacking merit.
In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, the suspended Chief Justice is seeking an interlocutory injunction to halt the work of the six-member committee pending the final determination of her application.
According to court filings, she is asking the Supreme Court to restrain the committee comprising Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, Daniel Yao Domelevo, Major Flora Bazuwaaruah Dalugo, and Professor James Sefah Dziasah from proceeding with any inquiry into the petitions lodged against her.
The application also requests that Justices Pwamang and Adibu-Asiedu be barred from presiding over or participating in the committee’s deliberations.
Additionally, the Chief Justice is seeking to suspend the effect of the suspension warrant issued by President Mahama under Article 146(10) of the Constitution, pending the resolution of the case.
The suit, filed by Dame and Partners, is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court in the coming days.
Ahead of the Torkornoo’s lawsuit, the Supreme Court, by a 4–1 majority decision on Wednesday, dismissed an application brought by private citizen Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey, who had challenged the process initiated to potentially remove the suspended Chief Justice from office.
The Court deemed the application unmeritorious.
This was the Court’s second dismissal on the same issue that day. In a separate ruling, also by a 4–1 majority, the Court threw out a case filed by the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES), which had sought to overturn the President’s decision to suspend Justice Torkornoo and halt the committee’s work.
The five-member panel consisted of Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie (presiding), Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Yonny Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Yaw Asare Darko, with Justice Asare Darko issuing the sole dissenting opinion.
CenCES had contended that President Mahama’s action breached constitutional provisions and had requested the Court to invalidate both the suspension and the committee’s proceedings.
However, the apex court upheld the President’s decision, allowing the committee to proceed with its mandate.
Commenting on his role in the latest legal challenge, Mr Dame insisted that his involvement was not about Justice Torkornoo personally but defending constitutional integrity. He stressed that the reliefs being sought were constitutional in nature and that the petition process had been handled unlawfully.
He argued that his decision to represent the suspended Chief Justice aligns with his commitment to the rule of law and focuses on procedural irregularities rather than personal loyalties. He maintained that he had acted strictly within the bounds of the law and was committed to protecting judicial independence.
“It is about time that good men in this country speak for what is righteous and what is right. If there is any Attorney General who, from the beginning, has stood up for the judiciary and spoken against attacks on it, it is myself.
“It is not right and must be corrected. It is about time that proper things are stood for in this country. We cannot let people mislead the public and let it go uncorrected,” he stated.
He also accused National Democratic Congress (NDC) figures, including Tsatsu Tsikata and Oliver Barker-Vormawor, of leading the charge against Justice Torkornoo, insisting he had done nothing improper in taking on the case.
Meanwhile, claims of a secret meeting between a petitioner’s lawyer and Supreme Court judges have been discredited by video evidence that tells a very different story.
NPP supporters and sympathetic media outlets circulated allegations suggesting that Lawyer Thaddeus Sory, representing one of the petitioners, had met privately with Justices Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, Gabriel Scott Pwamang, and Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu to discuss the ongoing probe.
However, surveillance footage from the restaurant in question has since emerged, showing that the interaction was brief and innocuous. Legal analysts say the video clearly refutes claims of impropriety.
The footage shows Mr Sory seated and dining with businessman Dr Kotei Dzani. Later, three individuals, including Justice Kulendi, enter the restaurant. While one walks past without acknowledgement, Justice Kulendi stops to greet Dr Dzani and briefly embraces Mr Sory before joining his group.
A short while later, Mr Sory is seen approaching another individual, believed to be Justice Asiedu, to exchange pleasantries, including bowing in keeping with professional decorum, before returning to his seat where Oko Dzani sat.
Crucially, the footage confirms that Justice Pwamang, the chairman of the committee probing the Chief Justice, central to the original allegations, does not appear in the video at all. He was not in the restaurant at all.
A second video labelled “Entrance” captures the judges entering and leaving the premises without any planned or substantive meeting.