It has now emerged that the committee tasked with investigating the petitions against former Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, recommended her removal because she authorised payment of per diem to her husband and daughter, contrary to legal provisions and policies of the Judicial Service.
This is contained in a letter sighted by 3news dated September 1, 2025.
The letter, signed by the Secretary to the President, Mr Calistus Mahama, was addressed to the Chief Justice, attention Gertrude Esaaba Torkornoo.
“In the opinion of the committee, the travel expenses which the Chief Justice heaped on the Judicial Service when she travelled on holidays in September 2023, first to Tanzania with her husband and second to the United States with her daughter, together with the payment of per diem to her husband and daughter of the Chief Justice, constitute unlawful expenditure of public funds. It cannot be justified in law or policy,” a portion of the letter reads.
“Those acts constitute avoidable and reckless dissipation of public funds, and in the view of the committee, to have been occasioned by the overall head of the Judiciary and the Judicial Service, whose duty it is to guard public resources allocated by the Government, is caught within spectrum of stated misbehaviour, ” the committee further stated.
President Mahama earlier removed Justice Torkornoo from office as Chief Justice.
This was announced in a statement issued by the Minister of Government Communications on Monday, September 1.
“President John Dramani Mahama has, in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, removed the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkonoo, from office with immediate effect. This follows receipt of the report of the Committee constituted under Article 146(6) to inquire into a petition submitted by a Ghanaian citizen, Mr Daniel Ofori. After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office. Under Article 146(9), the President is required to act in accordance with the committee’s recommendation,” the statement said.
This comes after President John Dramani Mahama received the report of the Article 146 Committee of Inquiry set up to investigate petitions calling for the removal of Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo.
This followed the determination of a prima facie case in three separate petitions that sought the removal of the Chief Justice from office. In line with constitutional requirements, President Mahama constituted a five-member committee to conduct the inquiry.
The committee was chaired by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang of the Supreme Court. Other members included Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo, former Auditor-General; Major Flora Bazaanura Dalugo of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF); and Professor James Sefah Dzisah, Associate Professor at the University of Ghana.
Meanwhile, 3news has also laid hands on a copy of the Warrant of Removal.
“NOW THEREFORE, KNOW YE ALL MEN that I, JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA, President of the Republic of Ghana, in pursuance of the said Article 146(9), do hereby REMOVE the said Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from the office of Chief Justice and Justice of the Supreme Court, with effect from the date hereof. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Presidential Seal to be affixed at Accra this 1st of SEPT 2025.,” the document read.
