Legal luminary and Member of the Council of State, Sam Okudzeto, has commended the immediate past Chief Justice of Ghana, Sophia Akuffo, for her decision to join pensioners in picketing over the inclusion of their bonds in the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

According to him, the action by the former chief justice is in the right direction and is needed to ensure that the 1992 Constitution of Ghana works.

Speaking at an IEA event on constitutional reform, Okudzeto said that the Constitution of Ghana will only work if people stand up and fight for their rights like Sophia Akuffo is doing.

“The Constitution, so to speak, can never close all the loopholes... We can only hope to do no more than arm ourselves with all the legal tools to fight the designs of evil rulers, provided we have all the will to fight.

“No constitution works automatically; human will must be exerted to make it move in the right direction. The citizen, in other words, must stand up and fight for his rights.

“I think I will congratulate my lady [Sophia Akuffo] for that purpose,” the statesman said at the event, which was held on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

He reiterated that Ghanaians cannot go to sleep thinking that the provisions of the Constitution alone will solve the country's problems.

The former Chief Justice of Ghana, who was appointed by President Akufo-Addo, has for the past few days made headlines after she joined retirees to picket at the Ministry of Finance in Accra over the government’s plan to include their bonds in its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.


Watch a video of Lawyer Okudzeto’s remarks below:



You can also watch this episode of People & Places here:





IB/WA