Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has appealed to the Supreme Court to intervene and stop what she describes as a coordinated and degrading campaign to oust her from office.
She warned that the very foundation of judicial independence in Ghana is under attack.
In a supplementary affidavit in support of her motion for an interlocutory injunction, Justice Torkornoo lays bare a string of events she believes demonstrate "a complete desecration of [her] basic constitutional rights," including the right to a fair hearing, dignity, and protection from inhuman treatment. "This Honourable Court is the only shield between me and an unconstitutional assault on the office I hold and the independence it symbolises," she wrote. "Only you can stop this assault on judicial independence." She contends that the inquiry process initiated against her and the conduct of the committee set up by the President, have been marked by blatant violations of due process and personal indignity. "I have been treated in a manner not meted out even to persons on trial for treason," she stated in the affidavit, calling the treatment degrading and mentally torturous.
Justice Torkornoo's grievance stems not only from the substance of the allegations against her-details of which she says have never been properly communicated-but from the process itself.
