Justice Sulemana Gbadegbe
A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sulemana Gbadegbe has died at age 74. He died on Saturday, April 5, 2025 after a short illness.
He leaves behind a legacy as one of the finest legal luminaries in Ghana, having served at the nation’s highest court for 11 years.
He was described by his peers as an asset and an unquenchable fire in the justice delivery system.
He retired from the Supreme Court on December 3, 2020, after attaining the mandatory age of 70.
The judge, who had been at the bench for 31 years with 11 years at the Supreme Court, was very emotional after he read the court’s decision in ‘David Apasera and 39 others vs Attorney General’ as his final judgment.
The case was calling for the implementation of the Chinery Hesse report which recommended pension payment for former Members of Parliament.
The court held that retired MPs were entitled to gratuities as stipulated in Article 114 of the 1992 Constitution and not pension.
Tributes
The then Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, in a tribute said the late Justice Gbadegbe’s “service to the country has been long and committed. He has brought a fire that cannot be quenched. What we can do is to also play our part in the justice delivery system.”
Godfred Yeboah Dame, who was then the Deputy Attorney General, had remarked that the retired judge’s “command, selflessness in every sector of the law, most importantly his virtue as a judge was what set him apart from the others. Most of the time when I go to court and he is presiding over the matter, he gives a listening ear.”
Profile
Justice Gbadegbe (rtd.) obtained his Bachelor of Law degree (LLB) in 1975 from the University of Ghana and his Law Qualification from the Ghana School of Law in the same year.
After many years of service as a lawyer, he was appointed to the High Court in 1989.
After 10 years of service as a High Court judge, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal by the late Jerry John Rawlings.
Then in 2009, he was elevated as a Justice of the Supreme Court by the late John Evans Atta Mills, where he served for 11 years.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak