President Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sworn in Mr Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah as the 14th Chief
Justice of the Republic of Ghana at an elaborate and impressive ceremony at the
Jubilee House.
President Akufo-Addo administered the Oath of Allegiance, the
Judicial Oath and the Oath of Secrecy to Justice Anin Yeboah and presented him
with the Instrument of Appointment before the invited guests, who included
former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor.
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; the two former
female Chief Justices, Justice Georgina Wood and Justice Sophia Akuffo; a
former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, members of the Council of
State, heads of all the security agencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps, the
crème de la crème of both the Bench and the Bar were among the guests.
A large number of Justice Anin Yeboah’s family members,
including his wife and children, were also around to support him.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo congratulating Justice
Anin Yeboah (left), the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.
Reason
Speaking after fulfilling all the legalities, President Nana
Akufo-Addo said he was swearing in Justice Anin Yeboah on Constitution Day, a
day chosen as a public holiday to commemorate the virtues of constitutionalism
which had enabled the country, in the Fourth Republic, to enjoy the benefits of
the most prolonged period of stable and constitutional governance in its
history.
He described as an “admirable gesture” the situation where the
two predecessors of the new Chief Justice had lent their support to him when he
appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament and expressed the hope
that that same level of support would be given to the Chief Justice when he
assumed the mantle of leadership.
The President said the unanimous by-partisan expression of
support by Parliament for Justice Anin Yeboah’s nomination would engender
greater confidence in his work.
Choice
He said the selection of Justice Anin Yeboah as Chief Justice
“was not a difficult one to make, in view of his level of qualification and the
number of years he has served with distinction at the Bench at the Superior
Court of Judicature, totaling 17 years”.
He said the selection of Justice Anin Yeboah as Chairman of
the FIFA Ethics Committee, among other positions in the affairs of the world
football body, was an attestation of his integrity, “because these appointments
occurred at a time when world football was undergoing its greatest ethical
crisis in modern times”.
The President expressed the confidence that Justice Anin
Yeboah would be an effective leader of the Judiciary, guard jealously its
independence and bring honour to that arm of government.
“I expect decency, discipline, fairness, hard work,
deep-seated respect for the rule of law and the continuing modernisation of
judicial activities to be the hallmark of his era as Chief Justice,” he said.
“The Judiciary has the onerous responsibility of being the
bulwark of the defence of the liberties and rights of our people, and it can
only carry out that task well if it has unalloyed respect,” he added.
Cases
President Akufo-Addo reiterated his advice to members of the
Judiciary to refrain from situations where judges gave judgements on the basis
of decisions from the lower courts and cited them as law and also when judges
cited no authority for their rulings and gave orders without reason.
He assured the new Chief Justice that he (the President)
would be a reliable and trusted partner of the Judiciary, so that the Executive
and the Judiciary could cooperate in the spirit of mutual respect to entrench
good governance for the benefit of the people.
He also indicated his preparedness to help address the infrastructural
challenges facing the Judiciary.
The President urged all Ghanaians to work together, with
their different views and perspectives, to achieve the Ghana Project — a nation
under God, a united Ghana governed under the rule of law and respect for
individual liberties.
Integrity
of Judiciary
In his response, Justice Anin Yeboah thanked God for bringing
him that far and commended the President for the confidence reposed in him,
assuring him that he would abide by the oaths he had sworn before the people of
Ghana.
He said during his vetting by Parliament, issues of integrity
among the Judiciary and the continuing perception of corruption, delays in the
justice delivery system, poor infrastructure of courts and residences of
judicial officers, challenges surrounding legal education, among others, were
of great concern to the representatives of the people.
Justice Anin Yeboah gave an assurance that he would guard the
integrity of the Judiciary and take the necessary steps to ensure that
solutions were found to the challenges.
He said he would seek the support of the President to find
the financial resources for improved justice delivery.
