The National District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) Coordinator, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has stated that former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has the right to pursue legal action to challenge her removal.

According to him, this situation presents an opportunity for the country to re-examine its systems and strengthen Ghana’s judicial framework where necessary.

'My lawyers have been turned into Nebuchadnezzar's magicians' - Suspended CJ Torkornoo

“It's an opportunity that has been offered us by such an issue to be able to say that, okay, now let’s develop laws and systems that makes it much more difficult for anyone to bring up such a petition to remove a Supreme Court judge. On the issue itself, I would say it's within her rights to go for a review,” he said in a Channel One TV interview on Thursday, September 18, 2025.

Vanderpuye expressed the view that the Executive, in the process of the Chief Justice’s removal, acted lawfully and in accordance with the Constitution, while acknowledging that the decision may have been difficult.

“… Such things happen to give a dynamic society, the opportunity for a reform that will build a much stronger and more enduring environment for future generation. It may be sad that maybe it is her who is going through this. This is a sacrifice she has to pay by being a servant of the law,” he stated.

“After all the work she has done, if this is the way she is going to contribute to the reform of our judicial system, then it is painful, but then we have to accept it. However, I just want us to understand one thing here. The executive has not done anything wrong, as far as, this whole process is concerned,” he added.

His remarks follow Justice Torkornoo’s petition at the High Court for a judicial review, contesting the legality of her removal from office as a Justice of the Supreme Court by President John Dramani Mahama.

In her application, filed through her legal counsel on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, she argued that President Mahama acted “outside the powers conferred by the 1992 Constitution” when he issued a removal warrant on September 1, 2025, that stripped her of her position, both as Chief Justice and as a Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature.

Torkornoo goes to court to challenge her removal as Supreme Court Justice

The application noted that as part of her reliefs, Justice Torkornoo wants the High Court to “Declare that President Mahama has no authority to remove a Justice of the Superior Court without adhering to the constitutionally required process.”



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