Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah and Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong
President Nana Akufo-Addo has nominated two people to fill vacancies at the Supreme Court occasioned by the mandatory retirements of some justices at the apex court.
The nominees are Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah of the Court of Appeal and Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong of York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.
The President, making the announcement in Parliament through the Speaker, declared all the nominees very eminently qualified.
The vacancies resulted from the mandatory retirement of Justice Nii Ashie Kotey on October 2, 2023, and pending retirement of Justice Mariama Owusu on November 18, 2024.
According to the President, the Judicial Council advised him on May 24, 2024, in a letter signed by its Chairperson, Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, of the necessity to nominate replacements for retiring justices to the Supreme Court in accordance with Article 1442 of the Constitution.
President Akufo-Addo stated that in order to achieve a full complement of court justices for the next legal year, he had decided to appoint two people to the Supreme Court as advised by the Judicial Council, subject to the satisfactory completion of the processes outlined in Article 1442 of the Constitution.
“Upon receipt of the Judicial Council’s advice, and in accordance with my obligation on the Article 1442, I consulted with the Council of State on the intended appointments.
“The Council of State has by letter dated July 15, 2024, notified me of the successful completion of the consultation process,” he said.
According to him, in further accordance with Article 144 (2), he is seeking the approval of Parliament for the appointment of the nominees to the Supreme Court.
“I am fully satisfied that each of these persons is duly qualified and eminently fit to discharge the functions of the justice of the Supreme Court,” the President stated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House