The Minister of State for Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has dismissed claims by suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo that the choice of Adu Lodge as the venue for the hearings into the petitions seeking her removal was intended to intimidate her or carries any symbolic connection to the 1982 murder of judges.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Kwakye Ofosu stated, “The attempt to link the dastardly killings of some Supreme Court judges and a military officer to this case is most disingenuous. These governments, and President Mahama, have nothing to do with the killings of any judge. There is absolutely no nexus between the petitions that have been brought and that unfortunate incident in our past.”
According to him, the Adu Lodge venue was chosen independently by the five-member committee, not by the government or President Mahama.
He further explained that the facility, which is frequently used to host high-profile foreign officials, is accessible to the public and does not warrant the kind of suspicion being cast on it.
“The impression that a facility in the vicinity of the Osu Castle necessarily makes it intimidating or foreboding is completely misplaced,” he said.
His remarks come in response to concerns raised by Justice Torkornoo at an earlier press conference, where she questioned the neutrality of the venue.
“I need to make the disclosure at this point that the Adu Lodge facility where I am being tried featured very prominently in the planning of the murder of judges on June 30, 1981. Was Adu Lodge chosen for this inquiry to make me feel insecure? I think so.”
President John Dramani Mahama suspended the Chief Justice following the establishment of a prima facie case in three separate petitions against her and subsequently constituted a five-member committee to investigate the allegations.
Justice Torkornoo’s application for an interlocutory injunction to halt the proceedings was unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The Court also struck out a supplementary affidavit she had filed, ruling that it contained confidential material that violated Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, which governs the removal process of superior court judges.
JKB/MA
