Legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu says he expected the ECOWAS Court to dismiss the application by Ghana’s former Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, given the grounds for her removal.
However, speaking on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, Kpebu expressed surprise that two of the seven reliefs she sought were dismissed, implying those specific reliefs had merit.
His comments come on the back of the dismissal of all reliefs sought by the former Chief Justice at the ECOWAS Commission Court, including the one expressing concerns about her dignity and denial of the full verdict on the prima facie case established against her.
According to Kpebu, an in-camera hearing does not mean Torkornoo could not be accompanied by friends and relatives to support her, since the Constitution does not specify so.
He believes the treatment meted out to the former Chief Justice was not in tandem with the 1992 Constitution, making him surprised that relief Madam Torkornoo sought was also dismissed by the ECOWAS court.
“The time they were not allowing her to be accompanied by any person; Generally we agreed that saying the hearing should be in-camera, is not the same as saying nobody should accompany her,” he stated.
Kpebu argued that the framers of the law would have made it clear if an in-camera hearing meant no close associates could accompany someone to provide support during trial.
“If the framers of the Constitution wanted to say that she cannot get support from a family or friend, they would have said nobody should accompany her,” he stressed.
Kpebu said it was “bad” on the ECOWAS Court’s part to overlook that relief, indicating her dignity was affected to some extent.
“To just say that the in-camera also meant that nobody at all should come with her, I think that one it was bad” he maintained, stressing that he sees “some part of a loss of dignity” in that regard.
The legal practitioner also expressed concerns over Torkornoo’s denial of the full ruling on the prima facie case that was established from the petition against her, something he says should be highlighted to ensure it doesn’t recur.
“The matter of the failure to give her a full ruling on the prima facie. That point we need to keep beating it so that it doesn’t recur,” he maintained.
He cited the earlier petition for Madam Torkornoo’s removal during President Akufo-Addo’s era where the full ruling on why a prima facie could not be established was given, explaining in detail, why the petition could not hold.
He, however, clarified that those two reliefs were not sufficient to overturn her removal from office, as he had explained earlier that court’s upholding of her removal was expected.
Background
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, dismissed all seven claims filed by former Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, against the Republic of Ghana. This was announced by Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Justice Edem Srem-Sai.
The Court had previously dealt with preliminary objections and procedural applications in the case, which stemmed from the former Chief Justice’s challenge to her suspension and removal from office, which she alleges violated her rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Dr Srem-Sai, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, June 24, disclosed that the regional court also declined to award the US$10 million in damages sought by the former Chief Justice. According to him, the court found no basis for compensation after concluding that Ghana had not infringed any of the rights cited in the application.
Quoting the court’s decision, the Deputy Attorney-General stated that, “in light of the Court’s conclusions that Ghana has not violated any of the Applicant’s rights under the African Charter as alleged, the Court makes no decision on reparations.
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