I Have Been Threatened To Resign Or Suffer Harm – Suspended Chief Justice

Suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has revealed that she has received threats aimed at forcing her to step down from office, amid an ongoing inquiry into petitions seeking her removal.

In an address to journalists in Accra on Wednesday, June 25, Justice Torkornoo disclosed that some individuals have attempted to coerce her into resigning or retiring voluntarily by threatening her with personal harm.

 

“I have also received threats to the effect that if I failed to resign or retire voluntarily, I will be made to suffer some harm or the other,” she said.

“It may well be that efforts are being made to make me feel frustrated and resign so that the architects of the scheme can go back into the media to say that the wild and unfounded allegations in the petitions were not defended because they were true or that I had no credible defence to them.”

“As Chief Justice of a nation, who has been given the onerous duty and obligation to lead administration of justice, I should not turn tail and run when I know the implications of not defending false and unwarranted charges. If I resign under these circumstances, I will be saying that this flawed, unknown and opaque process is acceptable. It is not.”

 

Torkornoo also criticised the ongoing proceedings by the committee of inquiry probing petitions seeking her removal, suggesting the process is being handled more like adversarial courtroom litigation instead of a neutral fact-finding exercise.

She expressed concerns about the manner in which evidence is being presented and indicated that the legal representatives for the petitioners are exercising undue control over the information shared before the committee.

This, she contends, undermines the neutrality required in such inquiries and violates established protocols.

Torkornoo noted, “The proceedings are being conducted as if it is a normal litigation between the petitioners and myself. Their lawyers now choose and pick which part of the evidence that public officials present to put on the table.”

Adding “This is also in violation of known rules regarding the proceedings of a committee of enquiry.”

Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo firmly stated that she will not resign from her position despite facing an impeachment process initiated under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.

She described the hearing process as unfair and alleged bias on the part of the committee tasked with investigating her. However, she argued that stepping down at this point would wrongly suggest that the claims against her are true.

“Let me assure everybody that I do not seek to cling to a title or position. However, as a lawyer of 38 years standing, a Judge of 21 years standing, and Chief Justice of Ghana who has served in the rule of law all of my working life, I consider it my onerous duty and obligation to speak up concerning the administration of justice in this country.

The situation I have been confronted with has shown me a model of injustice that I would never have thought possible if I had not been exposed to it. This is why despite great personal discomfort, I have decided to marshal every effort, in law and leadership, to answer to this situation.”

She emphasized that resignation or retirement while Article 146 proceedings are ongoing is not only inappropriate, but also legally impermissible.

“Furthermore, resigning or retiring while Article 146 proceedings are being conducted to remove a Judge is not an option any Judge or public official is even allowed to have. There is a decided case on the subject by the Supreme Court. The suit number is J6/02/2019.”

Justice Torkornoo warned that walking away from the process could result in adverse outcomes for any public official facing such proceedings.

“Again, no one has the authority to walk away from proceedings started by the State. Judgment can be entered against you because you failed to defend yourself. And a Judge who resigns or retires would still lose all entitlements because they failed to defend the claims and resigned or retired while the proceedings were going on.”

“Therefore, if false claims are made against a Judge or any Commissioner or other public office holder subject to article 146 proceedings, just to achieve a political agenda, the solution cannot be to resign or voluntarily retire out of frustration, pressure or fear. One would only find themselves being subjected to two cruelties — a judgment based on false claims, and loss of everything that one has worked for.”\

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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