Supreme Court Judge Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo has given her Valedictory Judgement as she retires from the Bench after serving ten years as Justice at the Apex Court.
Justice Akoto Bamfo gave her last judgement concerning some 269 casual workers at Anglogold Ashanti who were laid off without their end of service benefit.
The other fourteen Justices and Judges from the higher and lower courts were there to support her.
Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo joined the Bench as a Magistrate in 1981. She first worked at Accra New Town Magistrate court. After two years, she was transferred to Cocoa Affairs as one of the first Magistrates there. She became a Circuit Court Judge and sat briefly in Tema, ending up at Cocoa Affairs from 1986 to 1991.
She became a Justice of the High Court in 1991 and sat for almost three years, before going to the Gambia on secondment for two years as chairperson of the Assets Commission. She was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeal in 1999. After a decade, Justice Akoto Bamfo was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench in 2009 to join Justice Allan Brobbey, Georgina Theodora Wood and Samuel Date-Bah who have all retired from the Bench.
Justice Akoto-Bamfo can be described as coming from a home of legal brains. Her father is one of the two surviving pioneers of the Ghana School of Law. Three of her siblings are Lawyers. Her late Husband was a legal officer and their son is also a lawyer and is married to a lawyer.
The Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo in a farewell message said her period on the the Bench brought many great strides in the judicial service.
The Chief Justice said Justice Akoto-Bamfo in the course of duty displayed virtues of fairness and integrity making her student as a Justice of the Supreme Court. She therefore called on the others to be inspired by her good works, and quality standards.
Justice Akoto -Bamfo said if given the chance again she will still be a judge. She called for conditions of the courts, particularly those in the rural areas to be improved including accommodation and security of judges and magistrates.
