NDC communication team member, Theophilus Dzimega Jnr, has described former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s decision to challenge her removal at the High Court as a waste of judicial time.
Dzimega, speaking on Metro TV’s Inside Pages on Saturday, September 20, 2025, questioned why the former Chief Justice did not go directly to the Supreme Court if she wanted an interpretation of Article 146 of the Constitution.
“If I were the judge and I dismiss it, I will award costs personally against the lawyer because I don’t see anything so ambiguous for them to come,” he said.
Dzimega argued that Article 146 does not create separate removal processes for a Chief Justice and other Justices of the Superior Courts, insisting that the Constitution “lumps all of them together.”
“There is no procedure separately for removing the Chief Justice and for removing a normal Superior Court judge,” he said. “It lumps all of them because the Chief Justice is part of them.”
He also dismissed the view that the Chief Justice’s role is merely administrative, noting that the Chief Justice sits on panels and can act as a High Court, Court of Appeal, or Supreme Court judge.
Dzimega warned that allowing a removed Chief Justice to remain as a Justice of the Supreme Court could create “absurd situations.”
“Let’s assume Tokornoo has been removed as Chief Justice and we send her back to the Supreme Court as a Justice,” he said.
“If she is the senior-most judge and the substantive Chief Justice is unavailable, she would have to act as Chief Justice. Does that not become absurd? Someone we have removed as a Chief Justice now comes back and acts as Chief Justice.”
Background
Former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has filed an application challenging her removal by President John Mahama from both the office of Chief Justice and as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
She argues that President Mahama acted unconstitutionally by using a single process under Article 146(6) to remove her from two distinct offices.
The application, filed under Articles 23 and 141 of the 1992 Constitution and Order 55 of C.I. 47, seeks to nullify the Warrant of Removal issued on September 1, 2025, which ousted her from both positions.
Torkornoo maintains that while the process under Article 146(6) allows for the removal of a Chief Justice, it cannot be extended to remove her as a Justice of the Supreme Court, which she says requires a separate constitutional procedure.
