Suspended Chief Justice of Ghana, Gertrude Torkornoo, has filed an interlocutory injunction at the Supreme Court of Ghana, seeking to halt the operations of a five-member inquiry committee constituted by President John Mahama.
The committee was established to investigate three impeachment petitions filed for her removal from office.
The legal action, filed on May 21, 2025, and obtained by 3News, reveals that Justice Gertrude Torkornoo is requesting the Supreme Court to restrain the committee from taking any further steps related to the prima facie case determined against her.
Additionally, the suspended Chief Justice is seeking an order to bar Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu from participating in the committee proceedings investigating her potential removal.
In her notice of motion, Gertrude Torkornoo is also urging the court to quash her suspension, which was issued by President Mahama under Article 146(10) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Quoting directly from the motion:
“An order restraining the committee set up by the President to inquire into the three petitions against the plaintiff, composed of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th defendants, from proceeding with an inquiry, the execution of the terms of reference of the committee or taking any action in connection with the purported determination of a prima facie case made against the plaintiff until the hearing and final determination of the instant action.”
“An order restraining the 2nd and 3rd defendants/respondents from presiding over or participating in proceedings of the committee appointed by the President to inquire into three petitions purportedly presented for the removal of the plaintiff as Chief Justice of the Republic until the hearing and final determination of the instant action,” the statement of claim emphasised.
“An order suspending the operation of the warrant for suspension of the Chief Justice purportedly issued by the President under article 146(10) of the Constitution, 1992, until the hearing and final determination of the instant action.”
“Any further order(s) at to this Honourable Court may seem meet,” the suit concluded.
The defendants named in the suit include the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, Daniel Yao Domelovo, and other committee members.
President Mahama, on April 22, 2025, suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo in accordance with Article 146(6) of the Ghanaian Constitution, following the establishment of a prima facie case.
He also formed a five-member investigative committee in consultation with the Council of State to look into the petitions for removal submitted to his office.