AYAMGA AKOLGO (DCOP) v GERTRUDE TORKORNOO (CJ)

1. Petitions citing judicial misconduct and incompetence were submitted to the President for the removal of the former Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo. From the start of the Article 146 removal process, she mounted multiple challenges to stop it. She took action at the High Court, the Supreme Court, the ECOWAS Court, and engaged the media, but failed in all instances. Her attempt to resist removal now appears to have failed completely.

2. I now consider it appropriate to disclose that I was one of the petitioners seeking her removal from office. I am a lawyer and a Senior Officer of the Ghana Police Service. The former Chief Justice abused the prestige and authority of the judicial office vested in her, and deployed it against me. She demonstrated incompetence and a lack of judicial temperament, and was unfit to occupy the high office of Chief Justice. As a result, my rights were infringed, and I became a victim of her arbitrary exercise of power. My petition for her removal was not founded on politics, but on the need to uphold justice and ensure accountability at the apex of the judiciary.

3. I submitted my petition to the President, who, in consultation with the Council of State, found merit in it on its face and on the evidence presented. He could not have ignored my ordeal. The President granted me a hearing and set the wheels of justice in motion. His actions demonstrated a commitment to safeguarding the rights of ordinary citizens, upholding the principle that all rights matter, ensuring accountability of the powerful through due process, and affirming that all persons are equal before the law.

4. My petition cited judicial misconduct and incompetence. The President and the Council of State found the petition meritorious. Given the nature of the allegations, the former Chief Justice had a case to answer and ought to be suspended to allow for an inquiry. She was accordingly suspended, and an Article 146 Committee was duly constituted to inquire into the petition.

5. At the Committee's hearing, it was disclosed that three petitions, including mine, were to be inquired into, with recommendations to be presented to the President for implementation. The three petitions were heard by the Committee. The Committee commenced by adopting the existing High Court rules to govern its proceedings. Each of the three petitions was inquired into separately and was to succeed or fail on its own merits.

6. The Committee first considered the petition of Daniel Ofori. About twenty witnesses testified in that matter, generating a record running into thousands of pages and supporting documents. A decision was made by the Committee on this first petition, and a recommendation was submitted to the President, who subsequently removed the former Chief Justice from office.

The next petition considered was that of Shining Stars. They withdrew their petition from the Committee before the removal, and it was subsequently struck out by the Committee.

7. The final petition heard was mine. I took notice of the Chief Justice's removal from office pursuant to the Daniel Ofori petition. I submitted to the Committee that my petition had become moot. It was moot because she was no longer in office to be removed should my petition succeed.

On the other hand, counsel for the former Chief Justice rose and opposed the issue of mootness. Counsel argued that a determination had already been made on my petition that she had a case to answer, and on that basis, my petition could not be moot.

8. Upon hearing me and counsel, and for reasons of judicial economy, the Committee accepted the position of mootness and, in the circumstances, struck out my petition as moot.

9. I consider myself vindicated by the turn of events, because I submitted evidence to the President who, together with the Council of State, and on the face of the evidence, determined that the former Chief Justice had a case to answer on judicial indiscretion and incompetence.

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I thank you for your attention.

AYAMGA Y. AKOLGO
(Deputy Commissioner of Police)

2 July 2026