Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has resigned from the Council of State, bringing an abrupt end to her tenure on the country’s highest presidential advisory body, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed.
Justice Akuffo, who led the judiciary from 2017 to 2020, is understood to have submitted her resignation last year and has not attended any Council of State meetings since.
Neither the presidency nor Akuffo has publicly commented on the development, and the precise circumstances surrounding her exit remain undisclosed.
The Council of State is a constitutionally mandated body tasked with advising the President on matters of national importance.
No official announcement has been made regarding a replacement for her seat.
Fallout From the Judicial Crisis
Akuffo’s quiet departure follows a turbulent period in which she became a central, dissenting figure in one of Ghana’s most consequential judicial crises.
In April 2025, the Council of State voted on whether a prima facie case had been established against then-Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Out of 31 members, 30 voted in favour of the motion.
Akuffo was the sole abstention, though her reasons were not made public at the time.
In the months that followed, Akuffo actively opposed the impeachment proceedings.
At the request of the suspended Chief Justice, Akuffo voluntarily appeared before the Article 146 investigation committee—chaired by Justice Pwamang—to testify in Torkornoo’s defence.
She subsequently went public with her grievances.
In a September 2025 interview, Akuffo sharply criticised the process that culminated in Torkornoo’s removal, likening the proceedings to a “treason trial” and warning that it had severely weakened the judiciary.
She argued that the allegations against Torkornoo “lack[ed] the gravity that will lead to a grave outcome such as the removal of the head of an institution of justice.”
Despite her objections, President Mahama officially signed the warrant for Torkornoo’s removal on 1st September 2025.
Backlash and Legal Criticism
Akuffo’s public defence of Torkornoo while serving on the advisory body sparked intense public and political backlash.
Kwaku Ansa-Asare, the former Director of the Ghana School of Law, accused Akuffo of breaching her Council of State oath of secrecy, arguing that her public commentary indirectly compromised the confidentiality of the council’s internal proceedings.
Similarly, Solomon Owusu, a member of the United Party, announced intentions to petition for her formal removal.
Owusu criticised Akuffo for acting as a defence witness before the Pwamang committee while remaining a member of the Council of State—a body that had actively participated in validating the initial case against Torkornoo.
He warned that her actions risked setting a dangerous constitutional precedent.
A Legacy of Independence
Justice Sophia Akuffo remains one of Ghana’s most prominent jurists.
She served on the Supreme Court for over two decades before she was appointed the country’s 13th Chief Justice, becoming only the second woman to hold the position after Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.
Her international career includes a distinguished tenure as a judge on the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Her time on the Council of State was previously marked by her fierce independence.
In 2023, she drew widespread public attention when she joined pensioner groups on the streets to protest aspects of the government’s domestic debt exchange programme, publicly demanding that retirees be spared the financial burden of the nation’s economic recovery.