Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah and Justice Jones Mawulumu Dotse
Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has uncovered details of the lobbying campaign by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana.
Manasseh Azure, in his latest book, The President Ghana Never Got, suggested that President Akufo-Addo was considering Justice Jones Mawolrom Dotse and Justice Anin Yeboah to replace the retiring Chief Justice Sophia Akufo.
He said President Akufo-Addo ultimately decided to side with the judgment of Justice Anin Yeboah, the only judge who upheld the President’s election petition seeking to annul the results of the 2012 presidential election in which John Dramani Mahama was elected President.
“Justice Anin Yeboah attracted attention with his judgment in Ghana’s first presidential election case, in which Nana Akufo-Addo challenged the 2012 election of President Mahama and lost by a majority decision. Justice Anin Yeboah found that the election should be annulled and new elections held – the only one to go that far in a judgment.”
“Though the two judges were equally experienced as judges, Justice Dotse was considered senior to Justice Anin Yeboah as he qualified as a lawyer two years before the latter. When the President finally announced the next Supreme Court justice, the speculation ended. The fate fell on Justice Anin Yeboah,” the book reads in part.
Manasseh Azure also hinted that Justice Dotse was yet to realise his dream of becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as he was also set to retire in a month’s time following the retirement of Anin Yeboah.
As a result, President Akufo-Addo promised Justice Dotse the position of Speaker of Parliament, but he did not get that position either.
“Justice Anin Yeboah’s retirement age was in May 2023 when he turns 70 years old. Meanwhile, Justice Jones Dotse will retire on June 8, 2023 when he turns 70 years old. This means that when Justice Anin Yeboah was selected ahead of Justice Dotse in 2019, there was no possibility that Justice Dotse would succeed Justice Anin as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, even if President Akufo-Addo had him in mind.”
“However, the President reportedly reappointed Justice Dotse and asked him not to worry about losing his top position in the judiciary. He promised to appoint him as the next Speaker of Parliament.”
BAI/OGB
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