Former Attorney General and lead counsel for the removed Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, has accused the committee that recommended the dismissal of the Chief Justice of disregarding crucial evidence, including the judiciary’s official travel policy.

Speaking on Joy FM on Monday, Nii Ayikoi Otoo argued that Justice Torkornoo’s request to embark on a vacation was entirely in line with established entitlements and procedures.

“When these entitlements come, it is not for you to determine anything.

You only decide whether you want to travel. Once you indicate, the officers work out your entitlements and bring them to you.

You are not personally involved,” he explained, stressing that the Chief Justice did not allocate allowances herself.

Mr. Otoo further maintained that the judiciary’s travel policy—tendered in evidence during the hearings—explicitly permits a Chief Justice to travel with a companion of their choice, especially in cases where there is no spouse.

He pointed out that past Chief Justices had also exercised this option.

“The travel policy was submitted, but the committee never referred to it.

She was entitled to travel with one person of her choice, and she did so,” he said.

Dismissing claims of misappropriation, Mr. Otoo argued that any concerns about allowances should have been addressed through an audit process rather than removal from office.

“Assuming it was wrongly given, is that not why you have auditors?

They should surcharge you if you took something unlawfully.

Is that a ground for removal?” he asked, noting that the Judicial Secretary, not the Chief Justice, is the spending officer.

He expressed shock that despite his submissions, the committee concluded that Justice Torkornoo had engaged in misappropriation.

“I’m surprised Daniel Domelevo, a former Auditor-General, was on it. He heard us, he saw the evidence. Yet in the face of all this, they still concluded she misappropriated money. Which money?” he questioned.

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