Are Justices Baffoe-Bonnie, Amadu Tanko, Kulendi, and Kwofie the anti-Torkornoo squad?

On Tuesday, 22 April 2025, the serving Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, was suspended from office by President John Dramani Mahama following the receipt of three petitions and the subsequent establishment of a purported prima facie case against her.

The decision to suspend the 15th Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, according to the presidency, was in line with a recommendation by the Council of State to President John Mahama and the provisions of Article 146(8) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

As a result, four separate cases have been filed at the Supreme Court following the suspension of the Chief Justice, and four different five-member Supreme Court panels have been constituted by the acting Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, to adjudicate the actions.

The first case filed was entitled: Vincent Assafuah vrs. Attorney General. The second was Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES) vrs. Attorney General (1st Defendant), Her Ladyship, Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo (2nd Defendant), and His Lordship Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang (3rd Defendant),

The third case instituted at the Supreme Court is Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey vrs. The Attorney General and the fourth action initiated at the Supreme Court is by the Chief Justice herself, Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, as the plaintiff/applicant, and the Attorney General and five others as defendant/respondents.

In the first case (Vincent Assafuah vrs. Attorney General), the five-member panel that sat and determined the matter included Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Yonni Kulendi, and Ernest Gauwu.

On the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES) vrs. Attorney General and two others and Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey vrs. Attorney General cases, the five-member panel included Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko, Yonni Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Yaw Asare Darko.

The panel for the fourth action by the Chief Justice herself included Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko, Yonni Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Richard Adjei-Frimpong.

The Supreme Court in the Vincent Assafuah versus Attorney General case dismissed the application by a 3:2 majority decision, with Justices Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Ernest Gauwu dissenting.

In the two other cases, the Supreme Court dismissed both applications by a 4:1 majority decision, with Justice Yaw Asare Darko dissenting. In the fourth case, the Supreme Court also rejected the application by a 5:0 unanimous decision.

Eight justices of the Supreme Court have sat as panel members in all three cases. Three members, Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko, and Yonni Kulendi, have sat on all four panels, and in all four cases, they elected to dismiss the applications.
Justice Henry Anthony Kwofie sat on three panels. Additionally, he chose to disregard the three applications (CenCES, Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey v. Attorney General, and Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo v. Attorney General and five others).

Two other Justices, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Ernest Gauwu, who sat on the Vincent Assafuah case, dissented. Justice Yaw Asare Darko, who sat on two panels that determined the CenCES and Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey vrs. Attorney General cases also dissented.

Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Issifu Omoro Amadu Tanko, and Yonni Kulendi have so far presided over all four cases filed at the Supreme Court regarding the Chief Justice’s suspension and removal processes. Justice Henry Anthony Kwofie has also sat on three out of the four cases.

In all these applications, the four justices of the Supreme Court have all ruled similarly. Questions are being raised about why the four of them have consistently been empaneled for all the actions brought to the Supreme Court regarding the Chief Justice’s suspension and removal efforts.

In contrast, their other three colleagues, Justices Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Yaw Asare Darko, and Ernest Gauwu, who have all dissented, have each been chosen to sit on just one of the four panels so far. Could it be that the acting Chief Justice has decided to maintain himself and the three other justices because of their dissenting opinions?

Her Ladyship Justice Avril Lovelace Johnson and His Lordship Justice George Kingsley Koomson, on the other hand, have not been empaneled at all. It is also important to note that Justice Koomson is believed to be ill and is currently receiving treatment abroad.
To this end, the writer seeks to ask, “Will the Chief Justice continue to fight for rights through the court, which she heads, the Supreme Court? Will the Chief Justice abandon all forms of potential legal challenges in the domestic courts of Ghana and concentrate on the committee probing her?

Will the Chief Justice, after exhausting all domestic avenues, pursue the protection of her fundamental human rights at the ECOWAS Court of Justice and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights? The future looks busy!!!!!!!