Wednesday, 10th September, 2025

Your Excellency,

A HUMBLE PLEA FOR COMPASSION IN THE CASE OF FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE GERTRUDE ARABA ESAABA SACKEY TORKORNOO

With all due respect, I write to you not as a partisan, but as a concerned Ghanaian, and as one who deeply values justice, fairness, and above all, compassion in leadership.

The recent developments surrounding the dismissal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo have stirred a wide range of emotions across the nation. While the constitutional process has been respected and followed, and your actions as President are firmly grounded in law, I humbly urge you to also consider the human side of this issue.

Your Excellency, from credible accounts including the recent remarks by Mr. Abraham Amaliba, it appears that the former Chief Justice initially attempted to quietly step down through the intervention of two eminent statesmen, with the hope of retaining her hard-earned entitlements. However, perhaps driven by fear, dignity, or desperation, she later sought redress through the courts. While this may have been seen as a misstep, it is also a profoundly human response.

After dedicating over two decades of her life to the judiciary, rising through the ranks to the highest judicial office in the land, the thought of losing all her retirement benefits must have been unbearable. Anyone in her position, faced with the total loss of everything built over an entire career, would have done the same, if not more. Her actions reflect not arrogance, but a fear we all would feel in her shoes.

Mr. President, many Ghanaians support the principle of accountability and understand the importance of upholding the Constitution. Her removal, in itself, is a significant and painful consequence, one that history will remember. But I believe that even as she faces the consequences of her actions, she need not be stripped of everything she’s worked for.

You have consistently shown compassion throughout your leadership, and have often chosen the path of reconciliation and restoration. It is in this spirit that I humbly ask: if there is any lawful or discretionary avenue available by which her retirement entitlements can be restored, or even partially preserved, please consider it.

To err is human, indeed, and to forgive is divine. Let this moment be one in which Ghana does not only stand for justice, but also for mercy. The punishment has been delivered, but let us not allow the message to be one of total destruction. Let it also be a message of humanity, grace, and forward-thinking leadership.

Thank you for your time and for your service to our country.

Respectfully,

Evans Mawunyo Tsikata

A Concerned Citizen of Ghana.