President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has introduced Ms Justice Sophia A. B. Akuffo as his choice for the position of Chief Justice to take over from Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood who retires on June 8, 2017.
She thus becomes the 13th Chief Justice in the history of the country and the second woman to occupy that position.
Following the announcement, the President said her name would be forwarded to Parliament for approval.
Making the announcement at the Flagstaff House yesterday, the President said the government was determined to build a new Ghanaian civilisation, where the rule of law was not a slogan.
He explained that under that civilisation, the rule of law would be an operating principle for the development of the State, where the separation of powers was real and meaningful, where the liberties and rights of our people were fully protected, and where law and order provided a firm basis for our social and economic development, so that the dreams of prosperity that animated the great patriots, who were the founders of our nation, could find expression in our generation.
Worthy successor
The President said he had no doubt that Justice Akuffo would be a worthy successor to Chief Justice Georgina Wood and uphold jealously, the independence of the Judiciary.
“I expect discipline, fairness, integrity and the continuing modernization of judicial activities to be the hallmarks of her tenure as Chief Justice if she is so endorsed by the constitutional bodies”, he added.
The President said it was important for the development of the nation that there was a Judiciary that commanded the respect of the nation by the quality of its justice delivery, as well as by the comportment of its judges.
“We are all witnesses to the stormy winds that have buffeted the Judiciary in recent years and the efforts Chief Justice Wood has been making to restore public confidence in the institution. I expect Justice Akuffo to continue and intensify that work”, he stressed.
Earning the respect of the people
President Nana Akufo-Addo said the Judiciary had the onerous responsibility of being the bulwark of the defence of the liberties and the rights of the people and that it could only discharge that responsibility effectively if it had the unalloyed respect of the people.
The President said he had known Justice Sophia Akuffo well, for over 40 years, and that she was her first junior in practice as a lawyer.
“She impressed me considerably with her hard work, her capacity for detailed research, her independence of mind and spirit, her honesty and integrity, her deep-seated respect for the rule of law, and her abiding belief in the sovereignty of the Almighty God,” the President said.
The President said he was optimistic that those were the qualities which sustained her brilliant career as a lawyer that propelled her to be noticed by the first President of the 4th Republic, former President Jerry John Rawlings, who appointed her to the Supreme Court on November 30, 1995.
He said she had been one of the leading lights of the Court since her appointment, and her contribution to the Court’s work and the growth of the nation’s jurisprudence had been extensive.
“She has enriched her judicial experience by serving with credit on continental judicial bodies such as the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, where she ended up as President of the Court,” he added.
Mrs Justice Wood’s remarkable era
Eulogising Mrs Justice Wood, the President said she was due to retire on June 8, 2017, after a remarkable chapter in Ghana’s legal and judicial history.
She is the first female to head the Judiciary, and its longest-serving leader, who will have been in office for three days short of 10 years. Her career has been extraordinary, and I pay warm tribute to her distinguished service to our nation, and wish her a well-earned retirement, even though her public service will not be over as her place on the Council of State awaits her, the President said.
Ms Akuffo is the next most senior on the highest court of the land after Mr Justice William Atuguba, who is billed to retire soon.
Many had tipped Mr Justice Jones Victor Mawulom Dotse as the front-runner in the race for the position of the fourth most powerful person in Ghana, but Ms Justice Akuffo, described as a dark horse, sprang a surprise.
About Mrs Justice Sophia Akuffo
She has been at the Supreme Court for the past two decades and holds a master’s degree in Law (LL.M) from the Harvard University in the United States of America (USA).
She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Task Force.
In January 2006, she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and was re-elected until 2014 when she served as the Vice-President. She is the immediate past President of the court.
She is on the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council and has held membership of many organisations.
Her publications include The Application of Information & Communications Technology in the Judicial Process – The Ghanaian Experience, presented to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002).
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