Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo (3rd from left) (front row) in a pose with the CJ and other Justices of the Supreme Court
A Supreme Court judge, Justice Akoto-Bamfo, has retired from the Judiciary Service after attaining the statutory retirement age of 70.
Justice Akoto-Bamfo joined the bench as magistrate in 1981 at the Accra New Town Magistrate Court.
Prior to her appointment as a judge, she had been called to the Bar in 1975 after completing her LLB at the University of Ghana Law School in 1974.
Her biggest case since her elevation to the Supreme Court perhaps was when she was made part of the nine-member panel that heard the landmark presidential election petition heard in 2013 after the contentious election of December 2012 landed in court.
Justice Akoto-Bamfo became a High Court judge in 1991 and sat for almost three years before going to the Gambia on secondment for two years as Chairperson of the Assets Commission, one of several commissions of enquiry set up after the July 1994 coup in that country.
Its mandate was to investigate top officials of the overthrown Jawara administration in order to determine their level of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
She was appointed a Court of Appeal judge in 1999 and after a decade, she was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2009 together with Justices Sule Gbadegbe and B.T. Aryeetey (rtd).
At a short ceremony to bid her farewell, Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo described Justice Akoto-Bamfo (rtd) as an outstanding person worth emulating.
She said her fellow judge’s retirement has left mixed feelings among the remaining justices of the Apex Court, as her retirement is well-deserved but her presence would be missed.
The CJ, who had tears in her eyes as she read the farewell message, added that it was joy seeing Justice Akoto-Bamfo (rtd) at work deliberating on issues concerning the state.
Justice Sophia Akuffo wished her colleague all the best in her endeavour after retirement.
Her retirement brings to 14, the total number of Supreme Court judges.
Justice Vida Akoto, on her part, said given the chance, she would still be a judge.
She called for improved services for judges, as well as providing security for them as their job is a risky one.
President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Anthony Forson Jnr., extended felicitation of lawyers to the retired judge and wished her happiness and good health in retirement.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak