General News of Wednesday, 2 July 2003

Source: Joy Online

Controversy Over Justice Acquah's Age

He Went To School At The Age Of One
Justice George Acquah will this morning appear before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee, which is considering his nomination as Chief Justice. The nominee has considerable experience as a judge and appears to have the support of both sides of Parliament.

But one of the issues that the President’s nominee is likely to be confronted with at today’s hearing is his exact date of birth as it was in 1995, when he was nominated as a Supreme Court Judge. Justice Acquah was born on the 6th of March 1942, which by extension meant he went to class one when he was only a year old.

According to a JOY FM report, his date of birth generated so much debate in 1995, with some Members of Parliament making strong statements and some rejecting his nomination.

Those who supported his nomination in 1995 argued that while there was a serious discrepancy in Justice Acquah’s date of birth, there is proof that the 6th March 1942 date has been used by him all his life.

Justice Acquah admitted that there was something definitely wrong with the date but said his illiterate mother could not tell his exact date of birth.
Although, he was able to scale through in 1995, indications are that the issue will not be left alone this time around. Some MPs who had serious misgivings about Justice Acquah’s birth date including Madam Yakubu and Edward Doe Adjaho are still in Parliament.