Chief Justice bows out today

Georgina Theodora Wood, Ghana’s first female Chief Justice, finally bows out of office today after 10 years in the saddle.

Her retirement was preceded by a valedictory church service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra on Tuesday for a successful tenure.

The ceremony brought together officials of the Judicial Service, the clergy, politicians, family members, friends and the general public to witness the drawing of the curtain down on Mrs Wood’s 10-year tenure as Chief Justice.

Her exit today has left in its wake a fresh debate as to who takes over the mantle as stopgap CJ, particularly when Sophia Akuffo, recently appointed by President Akufo-Addo, is yet to be vetted by Parliament.

Another school of thought holds that the senior-most judge on the Bench, Justice William Atuguba, takes over until Ms Akuffo is cleared by Parliament.

The CJ had initially dropped the hint of her retirement during a church service marking the opening of the 59th Legal Year by the Judiciary in 2016.

She reaffirmed her retirement recently when she witnessed her last ‘Justice for All’ programme at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison.

Expressing her gratitude to handlers of the programme for inviting her, Mrs Wood said, “It gives me an opportunity to say an official farewell to the ‘Justice for All’ programme, given that in about four weeks I’ll be retiring. Specifically on the 8th of June I will no longer be in service.

“I should state this because I read all sorts of things. Some even think I’m staying up until the end of the year; that’s not accurate. In four weeks three days, I would have served my country faithfully in public office for about 47 years and I have been involved with prisoners that long because I started as a police officer and a legal person who prosecuted in the Circuit Court and so before I joined the bench it has remained as such. So thank you very much for bringing me here.”

She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President John Agyekum Kufuor on 12 November, 2002 – an appointment she had earlier declined.

She was nominated for the position of Chief Justice in May 2007 and on 1st June, 2007, parliament approved her nomination by consensus, making her the first woman to head the Judiciary.

Since taking office, Mrs. Wood has sworn in three presidents – the late President John Evans Atta Mills in January 2009; then Vice President John Dramani Mahama, upon the death of President Mills on 24th July, 2012 and President-elect John Dramani Mahama on 7th January, 2013.

She last swore into office Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 7th January, 2017.