By: Beatrice Oppon
Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah retires as the country’s Chief Justice on May 24, this year. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in June 2008 by then President John Agyekum Kufuor.
In December 2019, he was nominated by President Akufo-Addo and sworn into office as Chief Justice on January 7, 2020 following Parliamentary approval.
He succeeded Justice Sophia Akuffo who retired in December 2019 as Chief Justice. As his term of office ends soon, speculations are rife on the next Chief Justice.
Currently there are sixteen Justices of the Supreme Court including Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah. They are Justice Jones Dotse who also retires on June 8, Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, Justice Gabriel Pwamang, Justice Nene Abayaateye Ofoe Amegatcher, Justice Prof. Nii Ashie Kotey, Justice Mariama Owusu and Justice Avril Lovelace Johnson. Others are Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi and Justice Barbara Ackah Yensu. The rest are Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, Justice George Kingsley Koomson and Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu.
Among the fourteen, one name that dominates as possible successor to Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah is Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Her nomination to the apex court was in November 2019. She under went vetting on December 10, 2019 and sworn into the Supreme Court of Ghana on December 17, 2019.
Justice Yonny Kulendi has also come up as a possible choice for nomination as Chief Justice. He was vetted on May 12, 2020 by Parliament and sworn into office on May 26, that same year.
Justice Kulendi remains one of few Justices appointed to the Supreme Court straight from the Bar. He was born on November 29, 1963 and is currently 59 years.
Justice Baffoe Bonnie was appointed together with Chief Justice Anin Yeboah and Justice Dotse. He will be the senior most Justice of the Supreme Court after the exit of the two. He is 66 now and has four more years to hit the mandatory retirement age of 70 for Judges.
Who becomes the next Chief Justice is the question on the lips of many. We can only wait for the announcement by President Akufo-Addo soon.