The approval followed the favourable recommendation of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, after she was screened by members of the committee last Friday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zeSGOAzi8UspvUpFXAavRXEUNEgNbQ5o”]Presenting the report of the committee, 1st Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Wusu, said the committee approved Sophia Akuffo’s nomination unanimously because she exhibited the competence required for the fourth highest position in the country.

He said Sophia Akuffo during the vetting showed a high standard of “competence and integrity, forthrightness and independence, astuteness in depth appreciation of the law, shrewdness and selflessness.”

The over five-hour long vetting process saw Justice Sophia Akuffo answer questions on the challenges within the country’s legal system, the regulations on touting, the status and relevance of the Ghana Law School, practice of mob justice, external interference of the judiciary among others.

She is expected to be sworn into office by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo later in the day.

12 things you don’t know about Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo

• Justice Sophia Akuffo was born on 20th December 1949 [Aged 67 years]
• Sophia Akuffo had her Masters in Law (LLM) from the Harvard University in the United States
• She is the second senior most Justice on the Supreme Court bench after Justice William Atuguba
• She trained as a lawyer in Nana Akufo-Addo’s chambers
• 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; and was subsequently re-elected until 2014, and is at present serving as Vice-President of the Court.
• She has written a paper on “The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience,” and presented it to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002)
• She presided over the infamous Montie three case in 2016
• Sophia A.B. Akuffo has been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana for the past two decades
• If confirmed by parliament, Justice Sophia Akuffo will be the fifth Chief Justice under the fourth republic
• She will also be the 13th Chief Justice in the history of the Republic of Ghana.
• She was appointed to the Supreme Court  by Jerry John Rawlings on 30th November 1995.

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The driver, one Ernest Obri Lartey, in his petition, said the Chief Justice violated Article 146 (8) of the 1992 constitution with her handling of the judicial bribery scandal following the expose by the investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his firm, Tiger Eye Pi.

[contextly_sidebar id=”WKxvxecLDOKyDas3rkYxauXrecmMVbsu”]The petition recounted that she indicted the 34 judges and magistrates following the revelation, and subsequent petition to then President John Mahama for the removal of the judges.

The 34 judges were asked to respond to the petition, but Mr. Lartey said that before the indicted judges and magistrates could respond, the CJ published the contents of the petition in the media followed by the screening of the documentary detailing the revelation.

Mr. Lartey argued further that, the Chief Justice willfully violated the constitution because she discussed the contents of the petition from Anas with the petitioner before he submitted the petition, thus constituting ex parte communication.

This was after the Chief Justice had removed some judges from office for having been found to have communicated with one of the parties in a pending litigation, contrary to the conduct of the judges and magistrates in a 2005/06 case, according to Mr. Lartey.

“Since the Chief Justice finds Ex parte communication by judges and magistrate to be so grave that they have to be removed from office, she the Chief Justice should equally be removed from office for engaging in Ex parte Communication with the petitioner and eventually heard the same petition and made prima facie determinations. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander.”

Claim of incompetence

To support his claim of incompetence against the Chief Justice, Mr. Lartey in his petition argued that “The Chief Justice’s incompetence is obvious when she failed to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court that any petition seeking the removal of the superior court under Article 146 (8) of the constitution. The Chief Justice sat in the Agyei Twum Case when the Supreme Court made the declaration yet the chief justice in this instance, violated the same Article 146 (8) of the constitution.”

Meanwhile, the CJ  has already announced that she will be officially retiring from active service in the next few months.

Some of the affected judges in the judicial corruption scandal, notably Justice Dery and Habib Logoh, are already in court fighting numerous battles against the CJ in a  bid to clear their names.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to her, judges designated to sit on such cases have been instructed to deal with them expeditiously.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Hfe20L0qxlXNdQ0sKXWsFTN4Ej8d9DhH”]The Electoral Commission is currently faced with multiple law suits from some political parties and individuals raising fears of a possible disruption in the election calendar.

But speaking at the ninth annual Chief Justice forum, Her ladyship Georgina Wood said they will ensure the election calendar is not disrupted.

“At a time the high court rules have been amended to provide for witness statements, I am confident that the maximum professional diligence would be deployed by all judges in adjudicating the multiple suits being filed ahead of December7, 2016. Our planned programmes clearly demonstrate our commitment over the period and pledge to Ghanaians to play a pivotal role towards the peace, stability and sustained social economic and political development of our country.”

Georgina Wood also noted that measures have been put in place to tackle weaknesses in current rules on elections.

“You may be aware of possible weaknesses in the current rules including those for the purposes of a presidential election petition. I am assured that you would carefully explore the theme for today and make recommendations for further improvements in the adjudication process.”

EC sued over declaration of special voting results

An outspoken member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Kwame Amoako-Tuffuor and two others have dragged the Electoral Commission to the Supreme Court seeking an order to compel the commission to announce results of special voting on the same day it is held.

The trio which included Benjamin Arthur and Adreba Abrefa Damoa argued in their writ that section 23 of C.I. 94, the law which regulates the conduct of the 2016 general elections, is inconsistent with Article 49 of the 1992 constitution.

EC sued over disqualifications

The Electoral Commission has further been sued by some political parties in the country for disqualifying their presidential nominees from the December 7 polls.

Some of them including Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Great Consolidated Popular Party’s (GCPP)Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey and nine others were disqualified from the race for having issues with their nomination forms.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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“By virtue of the powers conferred on her by order 79 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004 (C.I 47), the Lady Chief Justice has also directed that the judges hear these election related cases on a day-to-day basis including weekends, but excluding public holidays from 9.00am to 6:00pm, until the cases are finally disposed of,” a statement signed by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong said.

The Chief Justice has also directed that the hearing of all electoral cases should take precedence over all other cases pending before the courts.

The Judges are expected to further submit weekly status reports on all such cases pending before them.

“This authorization and directive from the Hon. Lady Chief Justice takes effect from Tuesday October 18, 2016 until otherwise varied or cancelled,” the statement added.

CJ designates 17 courts to handle electoral disputes 

The directive comes barely a day after the Chief Justice designated 17 specialised courts to deal with electoral disputes that may arise before the general polls.

The appointed justices, according to Justice Poku-Acheampong, have been tasked to handle the cases expeditiously.

He gave the breakdown of the judges assigned as follows: Greater Accra, six; Ashanti and Western, two each, while Eastern, Central, Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Volta and Brong Ahafo have been assigned a judge each.

There are concerns that the electoral calendar could be negatively affected following the rising number of disputes between presidential aspirants and the Electoral Commission (EC), but the Judicial Secretary has allayed such fears, saying there is no cause for alarm.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Seventeen High Court judges have been assigned to handle anticipated electoral disputes throughout the country.

The appointed justices, according to the Judicial Secretary, Mr Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong have been tasked to handle the cases expeditiously.

He gave the breakdown of the judges assigned as follows: Greater Accra, six; Ashanti and Western, two each, while Eastern, Central, Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Volta and Brong Ahafo have been assigned a judge each.

Concerns

There are concerns that the December 7, 2016 electoral calendar could be negatively affected following the rising number of disputes between presidential aspirants and the Electoral Commission (EC), but the Judicial Secretary said there was no cause for alarm.

“These specialised courts for electoral disputes will ensure that cases are heard expeditiously and on a day-to-day basis,” Mr Poku-Acheampong said.

Disqualifications

A number of subscribers of the presidential aspirants did not meet the requirements as stipulated in the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 94 meant for the conduct of the elections

Some of the subscribers also sponsored more than one candidate with the same names and voter registration details.

According to the EC, they only changed their signatures.

At a press conference in Accra on Monday, October 10, 2016, the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Charlotte Osei, disqualified 12 presidential aspirants.

They were disqualified on the grounds of forgery, perjury, impersonation and deceit of public officer.

Mrs Osei said the issue would be referred to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigations and prosecution.

Those disqualified are Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Mr Hassan Ayariga of the All People’s Congress (APC), Dr Edward Nasigre Mahama of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Mr Kofi Apaloo of Independent People’s Party (IPP).

Others are Mr T.N. Ward Brew of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), Mr Henry Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Richard Tetteh of the United Development Systems Party (UDSP), Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Nana Agyenim Boateng of the United Freedom Party (UFP) and Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP)..

The others are Kwabena Agyei of RPD and Kwame Asiedu Walker, an independent candidate.

Only four presidential aspirants were cleared by the EC to contest Election 2016.

Dr Nduom, on October 14, 2016, filed an application for judicial review praying the High Court to quash the EC’s decision to disqualify him from contesting in the December 7, 2016 presidential election.Other aspirants, including Nana Konadu, have indicated their intention to sue the EC.

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Source: Graphic Online

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