Historian and legal practitioner, Mr. Anokye Frimpong, has said embattled Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo is to blame for her own removal from office.

Speaking on the Ghana Yensom Morning Show with Otafrigya Kwesi Appea-Apreku on Accra 100.5 FM, Thursday, September 4, 2025, Mr. Frimpong argued that the Chief Justice should have resigned before the sittings of the Article 146 Committee, chaired by Justice Gabriel Pwamang.

According to him, had she stepped down, she would have protected her entitlements and avoided the precedent-setting removal of a Chief Justice under constitutional provisions.

“For the Constitution to be used to remove the Chief Justice is a novelty,” he observed, adding that the situation was worsened by members of the New Patriotic Party who advised her to challenge the committee’s work.

Mr. Frimpong noted that with her removal now finalised by the President, based on the committee’s recommendation, Justice Torkonoo stands to lose all her 22 years of service benefits.

He stressed that resignation would have left her in a stronger legal position to defend her entitlements in court if the government had attempted to pay.

He further advised that the former Chief Justice withdraw her case at the ECOWAS Court and instead petition the Council of State to intervene on her entitlements.

He also criticised her for using state funds for personal vacations, insisting that such conduct merited reprimand.

Turning his focus on political leadership, Mr. Frimpong faulted former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo for failing to address the shortcomings of Article 146 over the years.

He also rebuked former Chief Justice Sophia Akufo, urging her to “stop the crocodile tears,” since she had not spoken out against the flaws in the law during her own tenure.