A special valedictory ceremony was held in honour of outgoing Chief Justice, Ms Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo at the Supreme Court yesterday.
It was attended by lower and superior court judges and magistrates, Judicial Service staff, chiefs and the clergy.
Until her retirement, Ms Akuffo is the longest serving Supreme Court judge having been appointed to the Supreme Court in 1995 by former President Jerry John Rawlings.
Mr Anthony Forson Jr, President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) praised Ms Akuffo for affirming the independence and dignity of the judiciary during her tenure as the CJ.
He said it was an immense joy working with the CJ, a known disciplinarian and someone who upheld the value of fidelity.
Miss Gloria Akuffo, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General commended the CJ for her hard work and commitment to improving justice delivery in Ghana.
She said the CJ who she said was her niece, brought international exposure in her work and a number of administrative reforms.
The Attorney General stated that she considered the CJ as a mentor, adding that she (Gloria) had learned useful lessons from the CJ including her principles.
Justice Jones Dotse said the CJ had left an indelible mark on the bench and urged members of the bench and the bar to emulate her.
He said Ms Akuffo was the only Chief Justice to have visited all the courts in the country and close down facilities that were unfit for purpose.
Ms Akuffo thanked her colleagues and those who supported her upbringing and professional career.
She said Ghana had the best constitution in the world and appealed to judges to let the constitution to “work for us”.
The CJ asked her colleagues not to compromise the constitution to the advantage of the executive and legislative arms of government.
Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo was born on December 20, 1949. She has been a Judge of the Supreme Court since 1995.
She trained as a lawyer under Nana Akufo-Addo and obtained a master’s degree in law from Harvard University.
Ms Akuffo 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 Rights and People’s Rights: initially elected for two years, she was subsequently re-elected until 2014 and served as Vice-President and President of the court.
She wrote The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience, a presentation to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002).
Akuffo was nominated as Chief Justice on May 11, 2017 by President Nana Akufo-Addo and sworn in on June 19, 2017 as the thirteenth Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
