Sophia Akuffo was brilliant – Hohoe MP

Chief Justice nominee Sophia Akuffo has demonstrated that she is capable of occupying the office to which she has been named, Hohoe MP Bernice Adiku Heloo has said.

According to her, Ms Akuffo was on top of issues and will, therefore, be able to bring about the needed development within the Judiciary.

The nominee was vetted by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Friday June 16. During the vetting, she said, among other things: “Regarding promotion, it has to be reviewed and I will make sure that those processes are brought into play to ensure that no one has been overlooked and no one will be overlooked and it will be based on performance…”

According to her, there was a need for infrastructural upgrade of some of the working environment of some lower court judges as well as improvement in remuneration.

“Not only [promotion of] the lower court judges but also the conditions in which they work in terms of infrastructure and so on,” she said, adding: “There will be a need to do a quick review of the current situation and then make proposals for moving forward within the terms of the general applicable rules in terms of remuneration.”

The Hohoe MP, who is also a member of the committee, speaking in an interview with Class91.3FM’s parliamentary reporter, Ekow Annan, minutes after the vetting said: “That was a five-hour grilling and I must say she did very well. She has been able to tell us all the plans that she has for her staff, for her administration, for students, and for the general legal practice in Ghana. So we are very hopeful that her tenure will see more development and progress in the judiciary.

“We were hard on her just that the tone was a little low. We asked a lot of the questions that we wanted to ask. These were even tougher questions in my estimation, just that she was on top of the issues. She has a low voice but she was able to tell us exactly what she wants to do.

“I was happy about the fact that she believes in modern technology, she believes in systems. It is the system and modern technology that drive development, so I am very happy that she was able to stress on those issues.”