President Nana Akufo-Addo, has tasked Justices of the Supreme Court to ensure the strict application of the laws of the land, and do so without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and, therefore, without recourse to the political, religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land.
The President made this known on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, when he swore into office Justices Mariama Owusu, Avril Lovelace-Johnson and Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo.
The three female Justices have been appointed to fill three vacancies on the Court as a result of the retirement of two Justices, namely, Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo, Justice Sophia Adinyira, and the impending retirement, in three (3) days’ time on 20th December, of Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo.
Congratulating the newly sworn-in Justices, he indicated that “you are deemed to have the independence of spirit, proven integrity, high moral character, and impartiality of mind to hold this high office.
Your appointments are, thus, truly well-deserved and merited.”
With the Constitution of the 4th Republic that as decreed that the Judiciary has jurisdiction in all matters of the breach of the law, civil and criminal, including matters relating to the interpretation and enforcement of the Constitution, the President indicated that the Court also has onerous responsibilities to protect the individual liberties and fundamental human rights of citizens.
The President, thus, urged the new Justices of the Supreme Court to help “build a new Ghanaian civilisation, where the rule of law is not a slogan, but an operating principle for the development of our State, so that the dreams of prosperity that animated the great patriots, who founded our nation, can find expression in our generation.”
Source:Fiilafmonline/JoyNews
