Justices Jones Dotse, Anin Yeboah front runners for CJ job
With the position of Chief Justice expected to become vacant in a few weeks, the race for the replacement of the retiring Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, is on, as President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to present a nominee before Parliament soon.
The President is expected to name one of the 12 Justices of the Supreme Court as the head of the Judiciary, but Jones Dotse and Anin Yeboah have been tipped as front-runners.
The longest serving Chief Justice under the fourth republic, Her Ladyship Justice Wood, who was appointed in 2007 by former president John Kufour, will step down and begin her retirement as she turns 70 on the 8th of June 2017.
The 1992 constitution stipulates clearly who qualifies to become a Chief Justice. Article 128 clause 4 states that, ‘A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court unless he is of high moral character and proven integrity, and is of not less than fifteen years’ standing as a lawyer.’
The constitution also gives the power of appointment to the president in article 144 clause (1) when it said “the Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President acting in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament.
With a background on who appoints a CJ and who qualifies to be CJ laid out, it can be easily concluded that any of the current Supreme Court Justices could emerge head of the Judiciary.
Current justices of the Supreme Court are William Atuguba, Sophia Akuffo, Julius Ansah, Sophia Adinyira, Jones Dotse, Anin-Yeboah, Paul Baffoe Bonnie, Sulley Gbadegbe, Vida Akoto-Bamfo, Anthony Benin, Yaw Appau and Gabriel Pwamang.
Any of the above persons thus stands the chance to become the next fourth most powerful person in Ghana.
