Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has vowed not to resign from office despite ongoing Article 146 proceedings seeking her removal. In a statement on June 25, 2025, she described any attempt to force her out through public pressure as a deliberate ploy to undermine the judiciary’s integrity.
According to Justice Torkornoo, resigning under the current circumstances would be both unlawful and dishonorable. She cited a Supreme Court case (J6/02/2019) that established judges facing impeachment proceedings cannot resign or retire to avoid accountability.
In an address to the media, she stated that, “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”, she added.
She explained why resigning in the face of Article 146 proceedings is not just personally unacceptable but legally impermissible.
“Let me assure everybody that I do not seek to cling to a title or position,” she stated. “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.”
She said the situation she now faces has exposed her to a form of injustice she would never have believed possible if she had not experienced it firsthand.
She further declared her intention to fight back through law and leadership.
According to her, the refusal to resign is grounded in legal precedent. “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,” she noted.
The Chief Justice indicated that walking away from such proceedings would not shield one from the consequences.
“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.”
She also noted that resignation under pressure would amount to legitimising what she calls “a politically motivated attack based on falsehoods”.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Justice Torkornoo further suggested there may be a deliberate attempt to force her out through public pressure that may leave her frustrated and pressured to resign.
Kowtowing to “the architects of the scheme” will only lead them back into the media to say “the wild and unfounded allegations” in the petitions were not defended because they were true or she had no credible defense to them.