New Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo not related to President – Government

Government has fiercely rubbished claims that the soon to be announced new Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo is related to President Nana Akufo Addo.

Critics of the Akufo Addo led-government have said it will go down in history as the most cronyistic, nepotistic government ever formed in the history of this nation.

They claim that to the tall list of family and friends making up over 80 percent of his appointments, the President has added yet again another family member – Justice Sophia Akuffo.

But speaking on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM Friday, Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong stated that the claims are baseless and should be treated with the contempt that it deserved.

He noted that it is just a coincidence that the in-coming Chief Justice, Sophia Akufo bears one of the names of the President.

“It’s just by chance that both of them share one name, same is the case with the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo. These claims that Sophia Akuffo and Gloria Akuffo are related to the President is mere propaganda, they absolutely have no relationship. If that is the case, we’ll then conclude that whoever is called Nana, Dankwa or Addo is related to the President. I believe that will be stretching the issue. Ghanaians should not fall for this propaganda.”

President Akufo-Addo has picked Supreme Court Judge, Justice Sophia Akuffo as the next Chief Justice of the country.

The former member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute takes over from the current Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood who retires in June 8, 2017.

The Council of State has already approved her nomination, and Ms Justice Akuffo has also been presented with her nomination letter.

President Akufo-Addo will today, Friday announce and present her name to Parliament for approval.

Justice Sophia Akuffo is the 5th Chief Justice under the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

About 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.