The National Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has urged the suspended Chief Justice of Ghana, Gertrude Araba Torkornoo, to report the alleged threats she claims to have received to the police instead of making public statements.
This call follows a press briefing held by Justice Torkornoo on June 25, 2025, where she revealed that she had been subjected to veiled threats pressuring her to resign or face harm amid ongoing proceedings seeking her removal from office.
The suspended Chief Justice described the inquiry as politically motivated and accused the petitioners’ lawyers of manipulating evidence during the process.
In an interview monitored by Kumasimail with JoyNews PM Express, Asiedu Nketia dismissed her claims as attempts to garner public sympathy and undermine the judiciary.
He emphasized that as a citizen, the proper course of action when faced with threats is to report them to the police, who would investigate and prosecute if warranted.
He stated, “If you receive threats, what do you do? You report to the police. She should go and report to the police. Or do you think that when she was a judge, you could just walk into the court and say that I have received threats, so the courts should do something? You report to the police, give your evidence to the police. The police will do the investigation and if it is worth prosecuting, they bring the matter to court.”
The suspended Chief Justice, who has served in the legal profession for over 38 years, insists she will not resign under pressure or threats and maintains that the process against her violates principles of justice.
Asiedu Nketia further questioned the veracity of the threats, noting that without evidence, it is impossible to verify her claims.
He stressed, “If somebody calls her and threatens her, how are we supposed to know whether her claim that she has been threatened is true or not? Who is going to check her phone to verify whether there were indeed threats or not?”
He criticized her for holding press conferences instead of following legal procedures, saying, “She is the number one judge in the country and she doesn’t want to apply the law. Instead of reporting to the police, she’s shouting at press conferences, making claims.”
Again, Asiedu Nketia urged the suspended Chief Justice to lead by example as a lawyer by reporting any threats to the police instead of holding press conferences.
He indicated “So, if she believes in what she is claiming, the best course of action is to report to the police and present the evidence. Let them conduct the investigation, and if someone ought to be arrested and prosecuted, let that happen. But this business of shouting at press conferences and so on, I don’t think that is appropriate.
“She is not showing us the right way. And she is a lawyer; she’s supposed to show us the proper way to handle such threats,” he added.
Source :www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
