Ex-Chief Justice Torkornoo would have faced jail abroad — Franklin Cudjoe

The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has argued that former Chief Justice Gertrude
Torkornoo could have been jailed in other countries for her alleged misuse of public funds.

His comments come in the wake of President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to dismiss Justice
Torkornoo from office after the Article 146 Committee found her guilty of financial misconduct.

According to the committee’s findings, Justice Torkornoo wrongfully billed the Judicial Service for
two private trips in September 2023—one to Tanzania with her husband and another to the
United States with her daughter. Per diem allowances were also extended to her relatives, which
the report described as unlawful and unjustifiable by any legal or policy standard.

The committee condemned her conduct as a “reckless dissipation of public funds,” stressing that
such behaviour, committed by the head of the Judiciary, amounted to stated misbehaviour under
the Constitution.

Cudjoe’s Criticism
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue with Selorm Adonoo on Saturday, Mr. Cudjoe dismissed any defence that Justice Torkornoo might have lacked financial guidance.

“Listening to all the arguments, I found out that they also relied on the fact that she got herself an imprest, which actually she was not supposed to spend. The argument that she should have been guided by a finance officer, because she didn’t know, is neither here nor there.

“Let’s dissociate politics from this. It gets me angry when I hear of it. She was the head of the judiciary; she knows the law. In other countries, she would have been in jail by now,” he said.

Mr. Cudjoe further described the expenses as an “unwarranted imprest,” underscoring that such conduct was indefensible coming from the nation’s top judge.

Removal from Office
On Monday, September 1, 2025, President Mahama officially removed Justice Torkornoo from office, invoking Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution.

A statement issued by the Presidency and signed by Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, explained that the removal followed the recommendation of a committee set up under Article 146(6) to investigate a petition filed by a citizen, Daniel Ofori. The decision took immediate effect.

The Presidency emphasized that the President was constitutionally bound to act on the committee's recommendation.