The President, Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has nominated three Court of Appeal judges to replace three
Supreme Court judges, including the Chief Justice, who have either retired
earlier in the year or about to retire at the end of the year.
The elevated Appeal Court
judges to the apex court are Justices Mariama Owusu, Lovelace Johnson and
Gertrude Torkono.
The Supreme Court judges
who have already retired are Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo, who retired on February
7, 2019 and Justice Sophia S.O. Adenyira, who also retired on September 1,
2019.
The Chief Justice, Sophia
Akuffo, who is the third, will retire on December 20, 2019.
Interestingly, all those
who are retiring from the Supreme Court are women while all those replacing
them are also women.
Justice Sophia Adenyira, the
oldest amongst the retirees is 72 years old and was born in 1947, while the
Chief Justice and Justice Bamfo are both 70 years old.
The Chief Justice, Justice
Sophia Akuffo, was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Jerry
John Rawlings in 1995 and was appointed the Chief Justice in June 2017 by
President Akufo-Addo.
Justice Sophia Adenyira
was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President J.A. Kufuor in 2006,
while Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo who rose through to become a Supreme Court judge
as magistrate was also appointed in 2009 by former President Prof. John
Atta-Mills.
The names of the three Supreme Court nominees have been sent to Parliament and were yesterday referred to the Appointments Committee by Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, for onward vetting and approval by Parliament.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr
