Former Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood has been appointed unto the Council of State by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Her appointment, announced by the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Ocquaye on Thursday, is in accordance with Article 89(2)(a)(i) which mandates the President to nominate a former Chief Justice as a member of the advisory body.
She joins other appointees including Juabenhene Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Sam Okudzeto, Nana Kofi Obiri Egyir II, Stanley Adjiri Blankson, Mrs Alberta Cudjoe, Alhaji Aminu Amadu, Dr Margaret Amoakohene, Alhaji Sahanun Moqtar, Mrs Georgina Kusi, Alhaji Sule Yiremiah, and Mr Paa Kofi Ansong.
The rest are General J.B. Danquah, a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces, and Nana Owusu Nsiah, a former Inspector General of Police, to the Council. The President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, is an ex-officio member of the Council in furtherance of Article 89(2)(b).
Mrs Wood worked with the Ghana Police Service as a Deputy Superintendent and public prosecutor for three years before joining the Judicial Service as a District Magistrate in 1974.
She rose through the Circuit and High courts to become a judge of the Appeal Court in 1991. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President John Kufuor on 12 November 2002, an appointment she had earlier declined.
She was nominated for the position of Chief Justice in May 2007 and on 1 June 2007 parliament approved her nomination by consensus, making her the first woman to head the Judiciary.
Since taking office, Mrs Wood has sworn in three Presidents – the late President John Evans Atta Mills in January 2009, then Vice President John Dramani Mahama upon the death of President Mills on 24 July 2012, and President-elect John Dramani Mahama on 7 January, 2013. She last swore into office on 7th January 2017 Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
