Outgoing Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo
The outgoing Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, has paid glowing tributes to past presidents as well as leaders of the country who significantly impacted her life.
Singling out the roles the former presidents played in her life, Sophia Akuffo paid a glowing tribute to the late former President, John Kufuor, for nominating her to the African Court of Human and Peoples’
Speaking at the valedictory ceremony before she leaves office on Friday at the Supreme Court, she described the late former President John Atta Mills as “one of the kindest lectures” she had ever met.
Ms. Akuffo recounted her struggles with arithmetics in Prof Mills’ Taxation class at the Ghana School of Law.
“He had the patience for my lack of knowledge in arithmetics and so he even passed me in the finals,” she recounted.
For a struggling student, the man who has been described by many as the “Asomdwehene” [King of peace] for his tolerance “had the patience for my lack of knowledge in arithmetic and so he even passed me in the finals,” she revealed.
The Chief Justice was appointed by President Akufo-Addo in May 2017 ahead of Justices Jones Dotse and Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.
Taking her final bow, she thanked and praised all those who made it possible for her to be the country’s fourth most important person.
“God at every step of the way, made my boundaries fall in good places. Somehow even when I didn’t know, it always worked out like that and on hindsight, I would see that I was being prepared for something further along the line,” she said.
She thanked God for all the situations she found herself in her journey to the top which she did not understand “but in the end, it has all worked and continued to work for good.”
Former President Jerry Rawlings first nominated her “out of the blue for no reason” to the apex court in 1995.
“I never applied for it, never dreamt of it and I never desired. It just happened,” she disclosed.
Ex-President John Kufuor also surprised her when he assisted her in 2006 to the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, which she had not even heard of before then.
–myjoyonline