Mpiani supports Dotse or Anin-Yeboah for Chief Justice position

The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, is due for retirement and before she takes the bow on June 8, 2017 there are discussions on probable names for replacements with Justices Jones Dotse and Kwasi Anin-Yeboah coming up as the top contenders.

In a radio interview on Monday, former Chief of Staff under the Kufour administration, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani suggested that the two contenders are equally fit for the position.

“I know both of them very very well, and I will be happy if either of them gets it,” Mr Mpiani told Accra based Joy FM when he was called for public education on how the President exercises his powers in appointing a Chief Justice.

The President in consultation with the Council of State nominates a person as Chief Justice and the nominee needs to secure parliamentary approval through vetting.

Ask to make a preference on who he thought was best to succeed Justice Georgina Wood, Mr Mpiani said he would prefer any of the two [Dotse and Anin-Yeboah] to occupy the seat, since either of them could help steer the affairs of the Judicial Service.

Chief Justice Wood last year announced that she was prepared for her retirement in June this year and just last week, she reiterated when she retires on June 8, she would devote her time to ensure the rights of prisoners were adhered to.

“In about four weeks I will be retiring. Specifically, on the 8th of June, I will no longer be in service. I should say this because I see all sorts of things. Some even say I am staying up until the end of the year. That is not accurate,” she said 

Chief Justice Wood is the first female to occupy the position having been sworn in on June 1, 2007.

She joined the Judicial Service in 1974.