The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has weighed in on the dismissal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, arguing that her alleged financial misconduct was so severe that it could have led to imprisonment in other jurisdictions.
Mr Cudjoe’s comments follow President John Dramani Mahama’s decision on September 1, 2025, to remove Chief Justice Torkornoo from office on the recommendation of a constitutional committee.
The Article 146 Committee found the Chief Justice guilty of financial misconduct for improperly charging the Judicial Service for personal travel in September 2023.
The trips included a journey to Tanzania with her husband and a later trip to the United States with her daughter.
The committee’s report specifically noted that per diem allowances were unlawfully paid to her family members, a practice it deemed a “reckless dissipation of public funds” and “unjustifiable in law or policy.”
Speaking on Channel One TV on Saturday, September 6, Mr Cudjoe criticised the financial impropriety, referring to it as an “unwarranted imprest”.
He dismissed the argument that Justice Torkornoo should have been guided by finance officers, emphasising her position as the head of the judiciary.
“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,” he said. “The argument that she should have been guided by a finance officer, because she didn’t know, is neither here nor there.”
Mr Cudjoe added a strong political dimension to his critique, urging the public to avoid partisan interpretations of the incident.
“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 contended.
The President’s decision to remove Justice Torkornoo was made in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, which binds the President to act on the committee’s recommendation.
A statement signed by Presidential Spokesperson and Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu confirmed the immediate effect of the removal, stating that the President was constitutionally obligated to take action based on the findings of the committee.
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Source: myjoyonline.com
