The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has said that former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo could have faced imprisonment in other jurisdictions over her alleged unlawful use of public funds.
His comments follow President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to remove Justice Torkornoo from office after a report by the Article 146 Committee found her guilty of financial misconduct.
According to the committee, the Chief Justice improperly charged the Judicial Service for personal trips in September 2023—first to Tanzania with her husband and later to the United States with her daughter. The report noted that per diem allowances were also paid to her family members, an act deemed unlawful and unjustifiable in law or policy.
The committee described her conduct as a “reckless dissipation of public funds” and said such actions, committed by the head of the Judiciary, amounted to stated misbehaviour under the Constitution.
Speaking with Selorm Adonoo on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, Mr. Cudjoe criticised Justice Torkornoo for what he called an “unwarranted imprest
He argued that claims she should have been guided by finance officers were not tenable, given her knowledge of the law.
“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 contended
President John Dramani Mahama, on Monday, September 1, 2025, removed Justice Torkornoo from office in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution.
A statement from the Presidency explained that the decision followed the recommendation of a committee established under Article 146(6) to investigate a petition filed by a citizen, Daniel Ofori. The removal took immediate effect.
The statement, signed by Presidential Spokesperson and Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, emphasized that the President was constitutionally bound to act on the committee’s recommendation.
