Supreme Court judge Justice William Anaam Atuguba acted in the stead of Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood on Tuesday at the maiden State of the Nation address by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Her Ladyship Wood is said to be in Cairo, Egypt, attending the Conference of Chief Justices. She has attended every single State of the Nation address since becoming Chief Justice in 2007. Wood JSC attended the sessions under John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama, whose last address was on January 5, 2017.
Curiously, Justice Atuguba acted as Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana between May 25, 2016 and June 3, 2016, when Wood JSC travelled out of Ghana.
He was also the President of the nine-member panel that adjudicated the landmark 2012 election petition, which was eventually dismissed much to the chagrin of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, one of the three petitioners then.