Prez nominates Afreh as Supreme Court Judge

President Kufuor has ignored calls to put on hold any plans to appoint new Supreme court judges until the review of the ruling on the unconstitutionality of the fast track high courts, by nominating Justice Dixon Kwame Afreh, an Appeal Court Judge as a member of the Supreme Court.

Political analysts and some legal experts had asked government to postpone any such plans because of the political ramifications of any attempt to pack the courts before the review.

Some government officials including Presidential adviser Dr. Amoako- Tuffuor publicly recommended the nomination of more judges to the Supreme Court before the review.

Three names- Justices Afreh, Georgina Wood and S. Brobbey- were speculated as possible nominees, but a letter from the president to the Speaker of parliament announced the nomination of only one person, Justice Afreh for parliamentary approval.

The Speaker has referred the nomination to the appointments committee for vetting. The sixty-eight year old appeal court judge has 31 years experience in legal practice.

He was admitted to the Ghana Bar in September 1961. Justice Afreh had his second cycle education from 1949 to 1954 at Achimota School, left for the University of Birmingham, England for his LLB between October 1955 and July 1958 and continued to the University of London, England between October 1958 and October 1960 for his Master's in Law.

He was called to the English Bar in February 1960 at the Lincoln's Inn, London and between 1962 and 1975, lectured at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon rising to the position of Senior lecturer, Acting Dean of Law Faculty and Acting Hall Master of Commonwealth Hall in 1974.

Justice Afreh worked at the Attorney -General's Office as Chief State Attorney between 1975 and 1978. In April 1973 to June, 1980 he worked with the General Legal Council as Director of Legal Education.

He later joined the Pan African Ness Agency (PANA), in Dakar, Senegal between June 1981 and October 1992 as Head of Administration and later becoming the Financial Controller from 1989 to 1992.

Between September 1978 and June, 1979 he became Commissioner for Information and Cocoa Affairs under the AFRC regime.

He was also a Deputy Commissioner for the Electoral Commission between 1992 to 1994 and was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Ghana in June 1994.

(GRi) -- President J.K Kufuor has nominated Justice Kwame Afreh for appointment as a Supreme Court Judge. This was communicated to Parliament by the Speaker, Mr Peter Ala-Adjetey at Monday’s sitting of the House. His nomination, if approved by Parliament, will bring the number of Supreme Court Judges to 11.

Justice Afreh’s nomination comes in the wake of a pending review being sought by the Attorney General on the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that the Fast Track Court is unconstitutional.

An Appeal Court Judge, Justice Afreh was sitting as an additional High Court Judge at the Fast Track Court handling the Quality Grain case in which five former Government officials were standing trial for allegedly causing financial loss to state. He was put forward by the Judicial Council for consideration as Supreme Court Judge three years ago.