The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has been entreated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to expedite the appointment of Justice Gertrude Torkonoo as the new Chief Justice.

The President emphasized in a letter to the Speaker that this is being done to prevent a vacancy in the Chief Justice's position upon Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah's retirement as the departing head of the judiciary.

“It is my respectful hope that the approval by Parliament of Justice Torkonoo can proceed expeditiously to enable her assume office as soon as practicable following the retirement of Chief Justice Anin Yeboah”, parts of the letter read.

Last week, the President nominated Gertrude Araba Esabaa Torkornoo, a Justice of the Supreme Court, as the next Chief Justice of Ghana.

Her nomination is subject to approval by Parliament.

When approved by Parliament, Justice Torkornoo will replace Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, who retires as Chief Justice on May 24, this year, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 for justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

In a letter to the Council of State, President Akufo-Addo said Justice Torkornoo who has been “on the Supreme Court for the last four (4) and has been a member of the Judiciary for the last nineteen (19) years is duly qualified and eminently fit to discharge the functions of Chief Justice.”

Justice Torkornoo will become the third female Chief Justice in history, following the footsteps of Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.

Justice Torkornoo will be President Akufo-Addo’s third appointment to the office of Chief Justice since he assumed office in January 2017.

Already, the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has massively endorsed the nomination of Justice Gertrude Torkornoo as the incoming Chief Justice.

JUSAG wants Justice Torkornoo, whose nomination is subject to Parliamentary approval, to outrank current Chief Justice Anin Yeboah as the best Chief Justice with the issues of labour at heart.