Social activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor has said the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo is not a victory but the closing act of a disappointing chapter.
President John Dramani Mahama has sacked the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office with immediate effect.
President Mahama today received a first report from the five-member committee he constituted to investigate three petitions brought against Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
In a post on Facebook by the Jubliee House account, it read, “Article 146 committee submits first report on petitions seeking removal of Chief Justice.
President John Dramani Mahama received, this morning, the first report of the Article 146 Committee of Inquiry, which is probing three petitions seeking the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
Presenting the report at a brief ceremony at the Presidency, the Committee’s Chair, Justice Gabriel Pwamang, said the panel conducted its work in camera, in line with Article 146(7) and refrained from public commentary despite “blatant false statements made about members of the committee and our work.”
“In camera proceedings are not the same as in secret,” he noted, explaining that limited procedural details could be shared without disclosing the substance.
On the first petition, filed by Mr. Daniel Ofori, the committee heard evidence from 13 witnesses on behalf of the petitioner. The Chief Justice, who also testified and was cross-examined, called 12 witnesses, including experts.
In all, the panel received about 10,000 pages of documentary exhibits from both sides. Each side was represented by four lawyers.
“After critical and dispassionate examination and assessment of all the evidence, including the expert evidence against the provisions of the Constitution and the relevant laws, we have, without fear or favour, arrived at a recommendation on the first petition,” the Chair said, before handing the recommendation to the President in a sealed envelope.
The Chair disclosed that the second petitioner, as well as the Chief Justice, requested an adjournment of the second petition, which the committee granted.
“Accordingly, we shall be reporting on the second and third petitions in due time,” he said.
Hours after President Mahama received the committee reports, Chief Justice Torkornoo was sacked with immediate effect.
“President John Dramani Mahama has, in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, removed the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office with immediate effect,” the statement said.
“This follows receipt of the report of the Committee constituted under Article 146(6) to inquire into a petition submitted by a Ghanaian citizen, Mr. Daniel Ofori. After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office.
“Under Article 146(9), the President is required to act in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation,” the statement concluded.
Reacting to the Chief Justice’s dismissal, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, in a post on X, argues that the Chief Justice failed to rise to the demands of her office, often choosing silence when the nation needed courage and integrity
Vormawor wrote, “A chief justice has been removed. But as someone who has had a front row seat through the process, hear me clearly, when I say there is nothing to celebrate here.
The removal of the Chief Justice is not a victory, but the closing act of a disappointing chapter. Araba held the highest seat of justice at a time when courage and integrity were desperately needed, yet too often her “leadership” chose silence when the people cried out for answers. She enabled mampam’s worst impulses and chose the convenience of power”.
He further noted that Torkornoo slipped the judiciary into mistrust and estrangement by fixing and removing judges as political paymasters call for.
Vormawor added, “It is all the more disappointing because the office she held demanded more. The Chief Justice is meant to be the moral compass of the Republic. Yet her tenure will be remembered for opportunities missed; for moments when the Office could have been a shield for the weak, but too often became a fortress for the regime.
In the midst of this, it is important that we commend the committee of her peers who, in the face of pressure and deliberate misinformation, chose duty over expedience. I am certain that their recommendation was not an easy call, but their restraint and quiet stoicism preserved the dignity of the process, despite Araba’s own best efforts to ensure the opposite”.
The social activist further highlighted, “Sadly? Araba’s removal is a reminder that leadership without courage corrodes institutions from within. It is my prayer that what has fallen today is not just a person but alsthe lack of confidence in the idea that justice in this Republic can ever be impartial and bold.
May we find our path to restoring faith soon to the Judiciary before it is too late. Araba is gone, but her signature and the culture she symbolizes remains stuck on every wall, like dried blood”.
Vormawor further called for a judiciay reform, “Our Judiciary is not fit for purpose. Reform it or we will perish. Let us not sweep the cracks under the carpet. I hope the 4th Republic learns from the fate of the 1st”.
See the post below:
Lets Talk Araba
— Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor (@barkervogues) September 1, 2025
1. A chief justice has been removed. But as someone who has had a front row seat through the process, hear me clearly, when I say there is nothing to celebrate here.
2. The removal of the Chief Justice is not a victory, but the closing act of a disappointing…