- Daniel Ofori, a Ghanaian business magnate and investor, filed a petition on March 17, 2025, that ultimately led to the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
- His 15-page petition cited 21 allegations of misbehaviour and 4 of incompetence, focusing on administrative misconduct.
- Ofori, known for pioneering Ghana’s retail superstore boom and holding major stakes in Société Générale Ghana, accused the Chief Justice of improper case transfers and financial irregularities.
- A five-member committee reviewed only his petition and recommended her removal, which President Mahama enacted on September 1, 2025.
Daniel Ofori isn’t just Ghana’s wealthiest stock investor — he’s now the man who unseated the head of the judiciary.
On March 17, 2025, Ofori filed a petition that would shake the foundations of Ghana’s legal system. In it, he accused Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo of 21 counts of misbehaviour and 4 counts of incompetence, all tied to her role as the administrative head of the judiciary. The allegations ranged from improper case transfers to reckless use of public funds.
Ofori’s petition was one of three submitted to President John Mahama, but it was the only one reviewed in full by the five-member committee chaired by Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Pwamang. Their findings were damning enough to recommend removal — and on September 1, Mahama signed off.
But who is Daniel Ofori?
He’s the founder of White Chapel Limited, the apparel empire that defined Ghana’s retail landscape in the ’80s and ’90s. He launched the business at just 15 and grew it into a nationwide chain before pivoting into real estate and engineering. His ventures — Advance Ventures Limited and Dano Engineering — expanded his footprint into structural design and consumer electronics.
Ofori later turned to capital markets, becoming the largest individual shareholder in Société Générale Ghana with over 48 million shares. As of 2023, he was the wealthiest investor on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
His legal clash with Justice Torkornoo stemmed from two cases in which she played a role. He accused her of transferring one of his cases between judges and merging it with another after a petition — moves he claimed were procedurally improper. He also cited her dissenting opinion in a 2020 Supreme Court ruling he ultimately won.
The committee’s report, submitted on September 1, cited financial misconduct and administrative overreach, including travel expenses billed to the Judicial Service for trips involving her family. These findings, they said, amounted to “stated misbehaviour” under Article 146 of the Constitution.
With the presidential seal affixed, Justice Torkornoo’s tenure came to an abrupt end — and Daniel Ofori’s name entered the history books as the citizen who took on the judiciary’s highest office and won.
