Former Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Sophia Akuffo, has described the processes leading to the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Tokornoo from office by the President as crude and unfair.
Her comments follow the President’s decision to relieve the suspended Chief Justice of her duties on September 1, after receiving the report of the Pwamang-led committee, which investigated petitions filed against her.
In an exclusive interview with TV3, Sophia Akuffo expressed concern that the committee hearings did not provide a fair trial to justify Tokornoo’s removal, despite the Presidency citing Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution as the legal basis.
She argued that the legal threshold used to determine Tokornoo’s alleged misconduct was too low to warrant such a consequential decision.
“The sittings of the committee and the procedure were not fair to Gertrude Tokornoo in the prevailing circumstances, as I observed. The sittings seemed more adversarial than a fact-finding mission, which ought to have been carried out with the principles of a true and proper trial—ensuring access to a fair hearing for all parties involved.
From the facts I have been apprised of, it looked more like a treason trial than an independent inquiry,” she said.
The retired Chief Justice further prayed that no other Chief Justice in Ghana’s democratic history would suffer the same fate.
“The circumstances under which the removal was triggered are an assault on the sanctity and independence of the Judiciary, a key cog in our country’s fledgling democracy since our return to constitutional rule more than three decades ago.
It is an overbearing assault on the independence of the vanguard of the law—the Judiciary—and I pray no other Chief Justice has to endure such treatment in our democratic journey,” she added.
The removal of Chief Justice Tokornoo marks a historic and controversial moment in Ghana’s legal history, reigniting national debate about the integrity of constitutional institutions and the balance of power between the executive and the judiciary.
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Story by Sika Togoh |univers.ug.edu.gh