Facts about Ghana's new Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo

Sophia Akuffo has officially been named by President Akufo-Addo as the next Chief Justice of Ghana, to replace Chief Justice Georgina Wood who retires in June 2017.

There are some interesting facts about her you would like to know and these are just 11 fact you need to know.

• Justice Sophia Akuffo was born on 20th December 1949 [Aged 67 years]
• Sophia Akuffo had her Masters in Law (LLM) from the Harvard University in the United States.
• She was appointed to the Supreme Court  by Jerry John Rawlings on 30th November 1995
• Sophia A.B. Akuffo has been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana for the past two decades
• She is the second senior most Justice on the Supreme Court bench after Justice William Atuguba
• She trained as a lawyer in Nana Akufo-Addo’s chambers
• She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task-Force.
• In January 2006, she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights initially elected for two years; and was subsequently re-elected until 2014, and is at present serving as Vice-President of the Court.
• She has written The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience, a presentation to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002)
• She presided over the infamous Montie three case in 2016
• If confirmed by parliament, Justice Sophia Akuffo will be the fifth Chief Justice under the fourth republic, and also be the 13^th Chief Justice in the history of the Republic of Ghana.

Trump warns Comey over leaks to media

US President Donald Trump has warned fired former FBI chief James Comey against leaking material to the media. 
In a tweet on Friday he said Mr Comey had “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations”. Mr Comey, who had been leading an inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the US election, was fired by the president on Tuesday. 
Mr Trump has since insisted he was told by Mr Comey that he was not under investigation. 
Mr Trump said he had been told twice by Mr Comey over dinner and once over the phone that he was not a target of the inquiry. 
The president said: “I said: ‘If it’s possible, would you let me know: am I under investigation?’ 
He said: ‘You are not under investigation.” 
The FBI investigation was looking into possible collusion between Trump election campaign officials and Moscow. Mr Trump said this week he alone was responsible for the decision to sack Mr Comey, calling him a “showboat” and “grandstander”.
 Source: BBC 

Locally produced cooking oil can manage diabetes

Palm Oil

Various types of vegetable oil produced in Ghana have potential to manage diabetes in human beings.

That’s according to scientists at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology following successful experiment on mice.

Findings of the research are published in the Global Journal BMC Nutrition.

Palm oil, recently, came under public scrutiny after Sudan IV dye was detected in samples on the market.

Now, together with groundnut and coconut oils, scientists say they have found managing power against diabetes in it.

“Science has shown intake of oils seems to have some cardiovascular effect and high fats interfere with insulin action so it is feared that if diabetics take these oils it will make treatment of diabetes more difficult.”

That is the basis for study, according to Dr. Robert Ngala, lead researcher of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Molecular Medicine Department said,

“I wanted to find whether our traditional oils have a beneficial or negative effect on diabetes treatment.

For the research, scientists obtained diabetic mice from Nougouchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.

The test diets were prepared by mixing 10g vegetable oils with 90g normal commercial rodent food to obtain 10% by weight of vegetable oils.

The mice were then divided into eight groups of six animals.

A control group fed with the normal rodent diet.

Diet of Group two was modified with 10% palm oil, third with 10% groundnut oil and fourth with 10% coconut oil.

Another group treated with the food plus the anti- diabetic drug Glibenclamide. Scientists, again, created a parallel group which fed on the oils plus the drug.

After four weeks of continuous treatment, scientists found the group on normal rodent diet had high blood sugar like in humans.

The group that fed on normal diet combined with anti-diabetic drug had a low sugar level.

Significantly, the group on palm, groundnut and coconut oil diet had a drop in blood sugar level. Yet another group which fed on the oils and drug dropped in blood sugar level.

However, the combination of coconut oil and anti-diabetic drug failed to bring down glucose level as compared to those treated on the drug alone.

Dr. Ngala suspects a reaction between substances in the coconut oil and the drug. The scientists are looking forward to additional funding to replicate the study on humans.

Until then they advice diabetics to embrace traditional vegetable oils.

“We are not expecting a very big difference, though in certain cases rodent metabolism are quite different from humans,” he said.                               Source: myjoyonline.com

Sophia Akuffo named as Ghana’s new Chief Justice

Justice Sophia Akuffo

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has finally picked Justice Sophia Akuffo to serve as the country’s new Chief Justice. 
He made the announcement today, Friday, May 12, at the Flagstaff House, after which her name will be presented to Parliament for approval. 
Ms. Akuffo, if approved by the legislative body, will take over from Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, who retires on June 8, 2017. She will also be the second woman to serve in that position. 
In making the announcement, the President noted that, he has known the new CJ for nearly forty years, and trusts in her ability and integrity to deliver. 
“I have known Justice Sophia Akuffo well for over forty forty years. Indeed, she was my first junior in practice, as barristers call their work. She impresses me considerably with her hard work, her capacity for detailed research, her independence of mind and spirit, her honesty and integrity, her deep-seated respect for rule of law and her abiding belief in the sovereignty of the Almighty God. I believe these are the qualities which sustained her brilliant career as a lawyer that propelled her to the notice of the first President of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings who appointed her to the Supreme Court on 30th November 1995; some 22 years ago. She has been one of the leading lights of the court since her appointment, and her contribution to the court’s work and the growth of our nation’s jurisprudence has been extensive,” he said.
The President added that “She has enriched her judicial experience by serving with credit on continental judicial bodies, such as the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, where she ended up as President of the Court. I have no doubt, that Justice Akuffo will be a worthy successor to Chief Justice Wood, and uphold jealously the independence of the judiciary. I expect discipline, fairness, integrity and the continuing modernization of judicial activities to be the hallmark of her tenure if she’s so endorsed by the constitutional bodies.” 
Ahead of the official announcement of the new Chief Justice, many had tipped Justices Jones Dotse and Anin Yeboah as likely candidates to be picked among the 12 Justices of the Supreme Court qualified to occupy the high office. But neither names were considered. 
Rather, the next senior most Justice of the Supreme Court, Sophia Akuffo was chosen in consultation with the Council of State. Justice William Atuguba is the senior-most among the 12 Justices of the Supreme Court, but he will be retiring soon, which puts Ms. Sophia in a better position to be chosen. 
About Sophia Akuffo
 Sophia Akuffo had her Masters in Law (LLM) from the Havard University in the United States. She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force. 
In January 2006, she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights initially elected for two years, she was subsequently re-elected until 2014 and is at present serving as Vice-President of the Court.
 She has written The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience, a presentation to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002). If confirmed by parliament Justice Sophia Akuffo will be the fifth Chief Justice under the fourth republic after; Isaac Kobina Abban who served between 1995 to 2001.
Edward Kwame Wiredu also served between 2001 and 2003 while George Kingley Acquah served from 2003 to 2007 before Georgina Theodora Wood from 2007 to 2017. 
Justice Akuffo will also be the 13th Chief Justice in the history of the Republic of Ghana.   
Source:citifmonline.com