Minority to interrogate hasty nomination of successor of Chief Justice

The Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) will question the rationale behind the hasty choice of successor of Justice Theodore Georgina Wood while the Judicial Council is not in place, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Bodi in the Western Region, Hon. Sampson Ahi has hinted.

Parliament of Ghana which resumes sitting today May 30, 2017, is expected to approve the Justice Sophia A.B Akuffo as new Chief Justice (CJ) following the retirement of Justice Georgina Wood currently at 70.

Speaking ahead of today’s sitting, Hon. Sampson Ahi described the appointment of the new Chief Justice as hasty and unconstitutional since there is no Judicial Council and cabinet ministers who are supposed to offer advice to the President are put in place.

“Let me tell you appointment of the incoming Justice Sophia Akuffo is illegal for us in the Minority. …And we are not going to give our approval to illegalities under President Akufo-Addo”

“Currently the President has not named his cabinet ministers but keeps doing businesses which per the constitution need cabinet’s approval” he adds.

“I will personally raise issues regarding the Freedom of Information bill, the $2.25 billion bond and the visa allegation before Speaker on the floor of House today”

Meanwhile, the Minority, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu has indicated his readiness to scrutinize the appointment of Justice Sophia Akuffo to deepen and strengthen discharge of powers of the President used in such appointment.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in accordance with Article 144 (1) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution named the Supreme Court Judge as a successor to Justice Georgina Theodora Wood whose tenure expires June, 10, 2017

Profile of Justice Sophia Akuffo Sophia A.B. Akuffo has been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana for the past two decades.

Sophia Akuffo trained as a lawyer under Nana Akufo-Addo who had her Masters in Law (LLM) from the Havard University in the United States.

She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force.

In January 2006 she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights initially elected for two years, she was subsequently re-elected until 2014 and is at present serving as Vice-President of the Court.

She has written The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience, a presentation to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002).

One of her famous cases is when she presided over the Montie 3 in 2016.