President Akufo-Addo has held his first meeting with members of the Council of State since it was composed.

This was after swearing in Justice Georgina Theodora Wood as the latest member to join the Council.

The immediate past chief justice is the first former CJ to be on the Council since its establishment by the 1992 Constitution.

President Akufo-Addo said of her, “The Ghanaian people cannot have enough of you; you just stepped down as chief justice and straight into this new office.”

He therefore stressed the belief that Ms Theodora Wood would bring the rich and unique experience she acquired as the first female and longest serving chief justice in the country’s democratic dispensation to bear on her new role.

Expectation

To the Council, the membership of which is made up of persons from various fields of endeavours, the president said, “I’m counting on you a lot to assist me; these are very heavy responsibilities that are imposed on the President of the Republic; under our constitutional order, I am the executive and my authority is widespread.

“I’m counting on you to give me the maximum assistance that that brighter future Ghanaians are expecting, which led them to vote for me and my party on December 7, we can deliver it.”

President Akufo-Addo thanked members of the Council for their invaluable service to the nation, especially in dealing with the various appointments and nominations that had come for their approval.

“As far as their appointments are concerned, I’ve been very lucky about the expeditious manner in which you’ve dealt with them and also for the advice that has come through you on some of them,” he articulated.

President Akufo-Addo commended them for their decision to embark on a fact-finding mission on the infamous illegal mining (galamsey) phenomenon that has bedeviled the nation with its attendant ramifications.

Conviction

For President Akufo-Addo, that alone signaled their concern and commitment to finding a lasting solution to the galamsey menace and therefore thanked them for their inputs so far.

He said the role of the Council of State is beyond merely advising or counseling the president.

“It’s meant to be a residual power that you have that if you feel there is something seriously going on somewhere either in the making of the law or in a manner that an institution of the government or the state falls foul of, you intervene with your advice.”

Advice

Though by law the Council sits in camera, President Akufo-Addo advised that where and when necessary, they should open their doors to the public to witness their proceedings.

On her part, Justice Wood thanked the government and the people of Ghana for the confidence reposed in her, promising to bring her years of experience to bear on her new role.

Even though she recognised the fact that the role of the Council is purely advisory, she also disclosed that it plays an important role in the governance and administration of the country.

The former chief justice said, “Mr President, you can count on my loyalty to the people of Ghana and the Constitution.”

President of the National House of Chiefs, Nana Otuo Serebour II, commended the president for the programmes and policies he has set out to achieve for himself and his government.

The Council drew Nana Addo’s attention to outstanding appointments to councils of tertiary institutions and boards of other state institutions, especially in the financial sector.