Chief Justice nominee, Gertrude Torkornoo to be vetted on May 26

Chief Justice nominee, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo will face the Appointments Committee of Parliament tomorrow, May 26, for vetting.

She was nominated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in April 2023.

According to the President, her nomination was to avoid any vacuum that would occur following the retirement of the current Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, on May 24.

Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, who hails from Winneba in the Central Region, if approved, will become the third female Chief Justice in the history of Ghana, after Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had earlier urged the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to quickly facilitate the approval of Justice Gertrude Torkornoo for the position of Chief Justice.

In a letter to the Speaker, the President reiterated that this is to avoid a vacuum in the office of the Chief Justice following the retirement of Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah as the outgoing head of the judiciary.

“It is my respectful hope that the approval by Parliament of Justice Torkornoo can proceed expeditiously to enable her assume office as soon as practicable following the retirement of Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah,” parts of the letter read.