Dr Kwame Amoako Tuffuor
Dr. Kwame Amoako Tuffuor, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has reportedly passed on.
The leading NPP member in the Ashanti Region in particular, who is credited for spearheading the Ghana School Feeding Programme which started in October, 2004 under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, died at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra yesterday.
Dr. Tuffuor served in different capacities as a researcher and policy advisor at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on taxation.
Until his death, Dr. Tuffuor also served as a Board Member of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), under President Akufo-Addo’s government and also as a presidential advisor.
He held a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Alberta; and M.A. and B.A. (Hons) from Simon Fraser University in Canada.
He was also a Professor at St. Francis Xavier University, Canada.
He is remembered for the bold step he took by filing the application in the classical case titled “Tuffuor versus Attorney General” to challenge what he deemed a constitutional lapse.
According to a summary of the classical case on the Ghana Law Hub portal, Dr. Tuffour “took the bold step of issuing a writ seeking a declaration that Justice Apaloo was on September 24, 1979 (the time that the 1979 constitution came into force) deemed to have been appointed as Chief Justice of the Republic and as a result became President and member of the Supreme Court.
He also sought a declaration that the nomination by the President of Justice Apaloo, his subsequent vetting and his rejection by the Parliament was null and void. With this, the stage was set for a legal battle.
Dr. Tuffuor’s lawyers included the then practicing lawyer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, now President, and Tsatsu Tsikata (current lawyer for the petitioner in the case of John Dramani Mahama versus the Electoral Commission (EC) and President Akufo-Addo).
The state on the other hand was represented by Mr. Joe Reindorf and his deputy, A.L Djabatey.
The case brief indicates that “the Attorney General, Mr. Joe Reindorf, was intent on “killing” the case at the earliest opportunity. He, therefore, raised a preliminary objection questioning whether Dr. Tuffuor was the right person to bring an action in defence of Justice Apaloo.