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The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jr, has said his checks reveals the incoming Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo, is a “distant relative” of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Mr Baako made the disclosure on Joy FM’s news analysis programme “Newsfile” on Saturday.
Confirming the distant relationship between Sophia Akuffo and the president, Mr Baako noted that it is immaterial to her new role.
According to him, Ghanaian judges have over the years asserted their independence.
The Minority Leader Haruna Iddirsu has said the relationship between her and the president is worrying despite hailing her appointment.
The government on Friday denied claims that the next Chief Justice is related to the president.
Speaking on Accra-based Kasapa FM, the Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong said that the claims are without basis.
He said: “It’s just by chance that both of them [Nana Akuffo-Addo and Sophia Akuffo] share one name, same is the case with the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo. These claims that Sophia Akuffo and Gloria Akuffo are related to the President is mere propaganda, they absolutely have no relationship.
“If that is the case, we’ll then conclude that whoever is called Nana, Dankwa or Addo is related to the President. I believe that will be stretching the issue. Ghanaians should not fall for this propaganda.”
President Akufo-Addo on Friday appointed her to replace Chief Justice Georgina Wood who retires on June 8.
In appointing her, the president urged her to be firm and fair in the discharge of her duties.
“I expect discipline, fairness, integrity and the continuing modernization of judicial activities to be the hallmarks of her tenure as Chief Justice if she is so endorsed by the constitutional bodies,” he said.
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