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The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications and Presidential Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has confirmed that steps are underway to appoint a replacement for former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo following her resignation from the Council of State.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Presidency on Monday, June 15, 2026, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said President John Dramani Mahama has formally accepted Justice Akuffo’s resignation, which was submitted in September 2025.
According to him, the process required by law to fill the vacancy has already commenced and a replacement will be announced in due course.
“I can confirm that Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo has resigned from her position as a member of the Council of State. She submitted a letter in September 2025 to the President indicating her desire to resign,” Mr Kwakye Ofosu stated.
He explained that Justice Akuffo did not provide reasons for her decision to step down. Following receipt of the resignation letter, the President delayed accepting it after members of the Council of State requested time to engage her and determine whether any concerns or grievances could be addressed.
“When the President received the letter, he was required to indicate his acceptance of the resignation. However, at the request of the Council of State, he held on because they wanted to engage Justice Sophia Akuffo to ascertain whether there were issues informing her decision and whether those concerns could be resolved,” Mr Kwakye Ofosu said.
He added that after the Council completed its engagement with the former Chief Justice, it advised that the resignation be accepted.
“They subsequently informed the President that they had engaged her and that, as far as they were concerned, the resignation could be accepted. The President has therefore formally accepted her resignation, and she is no longer a member of the Council of State,” he noted.
Justice Akuffo served as Chief Justice from 2017 to 2020 and was one of the 31 members of the Council of State, the constitutional body mandated to advise the President on matters of national importance. The Council is chaired by former Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho.
She had previously clarified that her membership of the Council was not as a representative of the Judiciary but in her capacity as a former Chief Justice, in line with the provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
Her departure follows her public disagreement with the Council of State’s position on the petition seeking the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo. Justice Akuffo reportedly dissented when the Council considered whether a prima facie case had been established against Justice Torkornoo in April 2025.
She later appeared before the Article 146 committee investigating the matter at the request of Justice Torkornoo to testify in her defence.
In a September 2025 interview, Justice Akuffo criticised the proceedings, arguing that Justice Torkornoo had not been given a fair hearing. She described the process as a “treason trial,” warning that it risked weakening the Judiciary and asserting that the allegations against the former Chief Justice did not justify her removal from office.
With the resignation now formally accepted, attention turns to the appointment of a successor to occupy the position reserved for a former Chief Justice on the Council of State.