Legal practitioner Martin Kpebu is urging Gertrude Araba Essaba Sackey Torkornoo to save the country’s fragile democracy by vacating her position as Chief Justice.
Martin Kpebu believes the process to remove her, if allowed to drag on, could erode every trust in the judiciary and cause damages to the country’s democracy that will be difficult to repair.
“If we are talking in terms of strategy for our democracy, a resignation is better than going into the committee. Because look, this is going to open a can of worms. It will rake up all the old wounds, the mass expose, everything is going to come up, everything will be thrown at the system,” he said.
The legal practitioner was speaking on the suspension of the Chief Justice in an interview on Accra-based Joy FM.
In a letter dated April 22, 2025, the Presidency announced the decision of President John Dramani Mahama to suspend Gertrude Torkornoo as Chief Justice and institute a committee to determine three petitions, seeking her removal as head of the judiciary.
The President in consultation with the Council of State, the statement added, has established a prima facie against Gertrude Torkornoo with regards to the petitions alleging misconduct and inappropriate on her part.
Martin Kpebu said although he has not sighted the petitions, some of the allegations reported to be contained in them are damning.
He anticipates that the findings of the committee could be so incriminating that may lead to a total collapse of the judiciary and for that the country’s democracy.
“The judiciary is going to collapse. We will not survive this. The damage to the system will be almost beyond repair. Remember, we’ve not fully recovered from the ANAS exposé.”
He is, therefore, entreating Gertrude Torkornoo to resign to save the country’s democracy from destruction.
