Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has alleged that she has received threats urging her to resign or risk harm, describing the ongoing attempts to remove her from office as part of a politically motivated agenda to control Ghana’s Judiciary.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday, June 25, Justice Torkornoo said, “I have heard on several occasions, from loved ones, persons who care, persons who may not know me beyond my public duties… that it would be best if I just retired or resigned, rather than subject myself to an ill-motivated process.”
She added that some of these messages were laced with veiled threats to her safety should she refuse to step down.
Chief Justice Torkornoo, who was suspended following petitions alleging misconduct, firmly rejected the idea of resignation, stating that doing so would wrongly legitimise what she described as an “opaque and flawed process.”
Describing the proceedings as an attempt to “remove me and control the Judiciary,” she said the situation had exposed her to “a model of injustice that I would never have thought possible if I had not been exposed to it.”
Dismissing the notion that she is clinging to power, she said, “As a lawyer of 38 years standing, a judge of 21 years, and Chief Justice of Ghana… I consider it my onerous duty and obligation to speak up concerning the administration of justice in this country.”
Referencing Supreme Court case J6/02/2019, CJ Torkornoo explained that judges cannot simply resign during Article 146 proceedings. “No one has the authority to walk away from proceedings started by the State,” she noted.
She warned that stepping down would not only strip her of earned entitlements but also allow untested allegations to go unchallenged. “The solution cannot be to resign or voluntarily retire out of frustration, pressure or fear,” she said.
“The current bizarre proceedings I have brought to your attention present a twist to our nation’s democratic journey that we ignore only at great cost.”
