Approved: Sophia Akuffo is Chief Justice of Ghana

• Posted on June 19, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Ghana’s Parliament has unanimously approved Supreme Court judge, Justice Sophia Akuffo, as the country’s next Chief Justice.

The 67-year-old who is the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court after Justice William, Atuguba, takes over from Justice Georgina Theodora Wood who retired as the Chief Justice on June 8, 2017. Ms Akuffo is consequently expected to be sworn into office by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who nominated her in consultation with Council of State and in accordance with the constitution. She was vetted last Friday by the Appointments Committee of Parliament which recommended her approval by Parliament.
A report presented to the House by the Committee on Monday said the high standard of competence and integrity exhibited by Justice Akuffo throughout her career, as well as her independence of thought, astuteness and indepth appreciation of the law are a clear indication she is the best person for the job. Members of parliament from both the minority and the majority lauded her competence, stressing they had no doubt about her ability to deliver, especially considering the way she answered questions at her vetting.

The MPs indicated their full support for her and asked her to work towards removing the bottlenecks that are slowing justice delivery in the country. Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu urged Justice Akuffo to ensure that cases with high national interest are given priority and timelines should be set for such cases to ensure expeditious adjudication, TV’s Godfred Tanam reported.

The Minority leader was not happy about what she termed unnecessary judicial budget cut and underscored the need for the government to rather increase the judiciary, especially in view of the dilapidated nature of most court buildings across the country.