Suspended Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, has declared that she will not resign despite ongoing removal proceedings.
Speaking publicly for the first time following her suspension, Justice Torkornoo described the hearing process as unjust and claimed that there was bias from the committee assigned to investigate her.
She contended that resigning at this juncture would incorrectly imply that the allegations made against her are valid.
“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," Justice Torkornoo stated at a press conference on Wednesday, June 25.
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.”
She suggested that efforts may be underway to pressure her into stepping down, which would allow political actors to frame her departure as an admission of guilt.
“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.”