President Mahama Removes Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from Office

Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo has been removed from office following the recommendations of a committee established to investigate petitions of stated misbehaviour against her.

A statement from the Presidency on Monday, September 1, 2025, confirmed that the decision was made in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, which obliges the President to act on the committee’s findings.

The committee, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Pwamang, presented its report earlier in the day, concluding that the grounds of stated misbehaviour had been established. The petition that triggered the probe was filed by Ghanaian citizen Daniel Ofori.

After four months of hearings, the committee recommended Justice Torkornoo’s removal, which President Mahama subsequently endorsed.

Justice Torkornoo, who assumed office in 2023 after the retirement of Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, became the first Chief Justice in Ghana’s Fourth Republic to be removed under this constitutional provision. She was also the third woman to serve as head of the judiciary, following Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.

Parliament approved her nomination on June 7, 2023, making her tenure one of the shortest in recent history.