On Monday, September 1, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama signed a warrant for the removal of the Chief Justice of Ghana, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office on the basis of established stated misbehaviour.

The president’s decision was informed by the report and recommendations of the five-member committee constituted to investigate three petitions he received against the Chief Justice.

Some international media outlets have since reported the unprecedented and historic event.

Here is how they cover the news:

Reuters: Ghana's president removes country's Chief Justice after investigation

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama has removed the West African nation's chief justice effective immediately, a statement from the president's office said on Monday.

The statement said Mahama's decision was based on a report by a committee that found grounds of "misbehaviour" and recommended Gertrude Torkornoo's removal from office.

Mahama launched an investigation into Torkornoo, Ghana's third female chief justice, earlier this year and suspended her.

Torkornoo has rejected allegations of misconduct, saying they are unfounded and politically driven.

Meet Daniel Ofori: The man whose petition got Gertrude Torkornoo sacked

BBC: Ghanaian Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo removed from office

Ghana's President John Mahama has fired the country's Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following a recommendation by an inquiry.
She had been on suspension since April after complaints were lodged against her in petitions by three individuals, with the president setting up a five-member committee to investigate.

The commission found that "grounds of stated misbehaviour... had been established and recommended her removal from office", the presidency said in a statement on Monday. Torkornoo has dismissed the allegations as unfounded and politically motivated.

The presidency said Mahama was required to act in accordance with the committee's recommendations.

To arrive at its conclusion, the panel reviewed 10,000 pages of evidence from 13 witnesses on behalf of petitioner Daniel Ofori. The chief justice also testified and called 12 other witnesses, including experts.

The two other petitions have not been concluded.

Who becomes Ghana's next Chief Justice?

Torkornoo, Ghana's third female chief justice, was nominated in 2023 by former President Nana Akufo-Addo.

She is the first sitting chief justice to be investigated and dismissed.

Chief justices in Ghana enjoy security of tenure - meaning they can only be removed from office on a few grounds, which include incompetence and misbehaviour.

In April, the opposition New Patriotic Party condemned her suspension at the time, describing it as a political witch hunt and an attempt to undermine judicial independence.

Multiple lawsuits challenging the removal process were unsuccessful.

She had previously survived a removal request under Akufo-Addo, who found the petition to have "several deficiencies."

'We are mourning democracy' - Minority Leader reacts to Torkornoo's removal

She had been accused of bias in some of her rulings by the current governing party, which was then in opposition.

A former Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has criticised the decision to remove the chief justice saying it set a "dangerous precedent", the AFP news agency reports.

"The petition that I read showed no proper grounds to warrant her removal… If the threshold is what we read in the petition, then I fear for the future of the judiciary," he is quoted as saying.

GA/AE

GhanaWeb's latest documentary, Sex for Fish, that explores the plights of teenage girls in coastal communities, all in an attempt to survive, is out. Watch it below: