Ghana’s Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, has disclosed that she has and is still being subjected to human right violations in relation to the ongoing impeachment against her.
According to her, she filed an application at the Supreme Court and swore an affidavit alerting the apex court of these violations but did not yield any fruits when her request for the hearing to be made public was refused.
In an address to the State Wednesday, June 25, 2025, CJ Torkornoo stressed on the need to address the nation because the said violations were still ongoing.
“I swore to a supplementary affidavit alerting the Supreme Court of human rights violations I had already started encountering at the hearing. However, the members of the Supreme Court that heard the application refused my application for an open hearing, and the supplementary affidavit informing the court of violations of human rights was also struck out of records on the request of the Attorney-General.
“I have decided to make this Statement today because the violations have not stopped, but have escalated beyond anything I could have imagined as possible in justice delivery,” she disclosed.
She narrated further that the said violations in question include;
- the Committee’s refusal, in breach of the rules of natural justice, to recognise my counsel on the first day of proceedings simply because I was not personally present, and proceeding to fix hearing dates and make arrangements for the hearing without involving my counsel, even though he was physically present;
- the committee’s failure to indicate the specific allegations in respect of which a prima case has been established as well as the reasons for same, to enable me to determine my legal rights or adequately prepare a defence to the charges against me;
- the committee’s decision to permit two of the petitioners (Mr. Daniel Ofori and Shining Stars) not to testify to enable me cross-examine them on their petitions;
- a denial of opportunity to be in the hearing room with my husband or a close family member;
- a thorough search on my body and handbags in violation of protocols and courtesies extended to the Chief Justice in honour of the country, domestically and internationally;
- the conduct of the hearings in a cordoned high security zone on Castle Drive, Osu, when all Article 146 proceedings since 1993, had been held in a judicial facility at the Judicial Service, Accra. It is clear that the choice of venue, against the background of the secrecy of proceedings, was intended to intimidate me and to prevent any citizen of Ghana from knowing how the proceedings are being conducted.
Meanwhile, she has said that the ongoing processes, although refers to her alone, will go beyond her as a person.
