Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo
Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has dismissed political insinuations surrounding her appointment to the 9th Council of State of the 4th Republic by President John Dramani Mahama.
She argued that criticisms of her appointment based on her previous appointment by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo are unfounded.
The former Chief Justice expressed concern over the excessive politicization of issues in Ghanaian society.
She noted that those claiming she was appointed as Chief Justice by a New Patriotic Party (NPP) government conveniently ignore the fact that she was first appointed to the Supreme Court when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in power.
“Unfortunately and I use the word unfortunately very advisedly and with a lot of personal sorrow, we’ve become so embroiled in partisanship that we read politics into everything.
“I became a judge of the Supreme Court under an NDC government. How about that one? When people choose to, they will forget that one and simply look at the excessively obvious,” she said.
Justice Akuffo emphasized that her appointment to the Council of State by President Mahama was based on her competence, not political affiliation.
She added that, over the years, she has been accused of being both an NDC and an NPP judge, which she believes is a testament to her impartiality.
“I don’t think the President was particularly busy searching for my political affiliation. He would probably not find any. I know that in my career as a Supreme Court judge, there were times when I was accused of being pro-NDC, other times of being pro-NPP, whatever. People will talk about.
“It is not the job of a judge, especially a judge of the Superior Court, to take partisan positions. You know, simply put, what a judge does is listen carefully to the facts, research on the applicable law, do your analysis and follow the logic to the logical conclusion,” she said.
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