Ghana chief justice fired over abuse of office allegations

Former Ghana Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo. [GBC]

The president of Ghana on Monday said he was firing the west African country's chief justice after an investigation found her guilty of abuse of office.

Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, 61, the third woman to head Ghana's high court, was suspended from the post she took over in 2023 after complaints were lodged against her.

President John Mahama established a five-member commission led by another supreme court judge to investigate the complaints, which included allegations of falsifying judicial records and misusing public funds.

The commission found that the grounds "had been established and recommended her removal from office", a presidency statement said on Monday.

"President John Dramani Mahama has... removed the Chief Justice... from office with immediate effect," it said.

She is the first sitting chief justice to be investigated and dismissed.

Mahama, who assumed office in January, has vowed to tackle corruption.

It was not immediately clear whether Torkonoo would face any criminal charges.

A former deputy attorney general, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, questioned the basis of Mahama removing the chief justice, and said it set a "dangerous precedent".

"The petition that I read showed no proper grounds to warrant her removal," he said, adding that only "very serious offences" could justify such a step.

"If the threshold is what we read in the petition, then I fear for the future of the judiciary," he said, warning that the decision "may haunt us going into the future".