Justice Anin Yeboah, a Justice of the Supreme Court, is tipped to become the next Chief Justice.
Barring any last-minute changes, Justice Yeboah is expected to be named as the President’s nominee to replace the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo, who retires on December 20, 2019.
According to our sources, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has already submitted Justice Anin Yeboah’s name to the Council of State for consideration, in accordance with Article 144 (1) of the 1992 Constitution.
Article 144 Clause One stipulates: “The Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President, acting in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament.”
When accepted by the Council of State and approved by Parliament, Mr Justice Yeboah will be the first male Chief Justice in 12 years.
Two females — Justice Georgina Theodora Wood (2007-2017) and Justice Akuffo (2017- 2019) — have occupied the position for the last 12 years.
The last male Chief Justice was Justice George Kingsley Acquah, who served from July 4, 2003 to March 25, 2007.
Dotse vrs Anin Yeboah
Two stalwarts of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Anin Yeboah and Mr Justice Jones Mawulom Dotse, had been tipped for consideration to the position of Chief Justice.
According to our sources, while some of the President’s advisors and other interested parties in the government favoured Justice Anin Yeboah, other equally important people who also had the President’s ears favoured Justice Dotse.
“In the end, the President made his decision and settled on Justice Yeboah,” one of the sources affirmed this to the Daily Graphic yesterday.
Who is Justice Anin Yeboah?
Justice Anin Yeboah is currently the fourth longest-serving Justice of the Supreme Court.
A graduate of the Ghana School of Law in 1981, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President John Agyekum Kufuor in June 2008.
Prior to that, he had served as a Justice of the High Court from 2002 to 2003 and a Justice of the Court of Appeal from 2003 to 2008.
Apart from being a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah is also a part-time lecturer in Civil Procedure and the Ghana Legal System at the Ghana School of Law.
Justice Anin Yeboah’s name is also associated with football. In May 2017, he was appointed the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Federation of
International Football Associations (FIFA).
He also served as the Chairman of the Appeal’s Committee of the Ghana Football Association from 2004 to 2008.
Source: Daily Graphic