The Supreme Court has, in a 4–1 majority decision, dismissed a case filed by the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES), which sought to overturn President John Dramani Mahama’s suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
The ruling also allows the committee investigating the Chief Justice’s possible removal to proceed with its work.
The five-member judicial panel, led by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, included Justices Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Yonny Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Yaw Asare Darko.
Justice Darko was the lone dissenter in the ruling.
CenCES had argued that the President’s action violated key constitutional provisions, undermined judicial independence, and lacked the due process required under Article 146.
The civil society group sought a Supreme Court order to invalidate both the suspension and the work of the investigative committee.
However, the court upheld the executive decision, allowing the inquiry to continue.
“The government has continuously reneged on its commitment, thereby undermining the trust and cooperation that should exist between both parties,” CenCES argued in its writ dated May 15, 2025.
The organization, a Ghanaian company limited by guarantee, filed the suit against the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, and Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, who chairs the presidential investigative committee.
Meanwhile, legal battles surrounding the Chief Justice’s suspension continue, as a separate suit filed by Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey also seeks to block ongoing proceedings.
The plaintiff is asking the court to impose an interlocutory injunction on the committee’s work until his case is fully determined.
