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Some Supreme Court Judges are present in Parliament at the vetting of the Chief of Justice nominee, Sophia Akuffo. The Judges include the acting Chief Justice, Justice William Atuguba, Justice Jones Dotse, and Sophia Adhyira.

They attended the vetting in support of their colleague, who is being vetted by Parliaments Appointments Committee. If passed, she will become the 13th Chief Justice in the history of the Republic of Ghana, and also the second woman in that position after retired Chief Justice, Georgina Wood.

The Appointments Committee had earlier set June 19 for the vetting, but announced on Tuesday, June 13, that it had to reschedule the vetting to this week to avoid keeping the position vacant for long. President Akufo-Addo in May announced Justice Sophia Akuffo as his choice of successor to Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood who retired on June 8, 2017.

About the CJ nominee

Sophia Akuffo 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). If confirmed by parliament Justice Sophia Akuffo will be the fifth Chief Justice under the fourth republic after; Isaac Kobina Abban who served between 1995 to 2001.

Edward Kwame Wiredu also served between 2001 and 2003 while George Kingsley Acquah served from 2003 to 2007 before Georgina Theodora Wood from 2007 to 2017.