Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo Quits Council of State After Torkornoo Controversy

Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has resigned from Ghana’s Council of State, ending her stint on the president’s top advisory body.

Sources told Myjoyonline that Akuffo submitted her resignation last year and has not attended any Council meetings since. Neither she nor the presidency has publicly explained the move.

The Council of State advises the president on key national issues. Members are either elected or appointed from across the country.

Akuffo’s exit comes after months of tension linked to the removal of then Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo. In April 2025, the Council voted 30-1 that a prima facie case existed against Torkornoo. Akuffo was the only member who abstained, without giving reasons.

She later testified in Torkornoo’s defence before the Article 146 committee set up to investigate the suspended Chief Justice. In September 2025, Akuffo publicly criticized the process, saying Torkornoo “did not receive a fair hearing” and calling it a “treason trial” that weakened the judiciary. She argued the allegations “lack the gravity” to justify removing the head of the judiciary.

Her comments sparked backlash. Former Ghana School of Law Director Kwaku Ansa-Asare accused her of breaching her oath of secrecy as a Council member. United Party member Solomon Owusu threatened to petition for her removal, saying she revealed confidential matters and should not have testified for Torkornoo while still on the Council.

President Mahama signed Torkornoo’s removal warrant on September 1, 2025.

Sophia Akuffo served as Chief Justice from 2017 to 2020 and was Ghana’s second female head of the judiciary after Georgina Wood. She spent over two decades on the Supreme Court and also sat on the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

In 2023, she made headlines when she joined pensioners protesting parts of government’s domestic debt exchange programme, saying retirees should not carry an unfair share of the economic burden.

No replacement for her on the Council of State has been announced.