Georgina Theodora Wood

Georgina Theodora Wood (née Lutterodt; born 8 June 1947) is a Ghanaian former judge and a former public prosecutor of the Ghana Police Service. She is the first female to serve in the office as Chief Justice of Ghana. She retired in 2017 after five decades of service to the state. She is a member of the Council of State.

Early life and education Georgina Lutterodt was born on 8 June 1947 in Ghana. She had her basic education at Bishop's Girls and Methodist Schools, Dodowa. She attended Mmofraturo Girls School, Kumasi between 1958 and 1960. Wood's secondary education was at Wesley Girls' High School, Cape Coast, which she completed in 1966. She proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, where she was awarded the LL.B. in 1970. She rose through the Circuit and High Courts to become the presiding judge of the Appeal Court in 1991. accepting an appointment she had earlier declined. and also the 588 kg of cocaine seized at Mempeasem, East Legon from the Venezuelans. As at June 2007, this made her the first woman in the history of Ghana to head the Judiciary and also made her at the time, the highest ranked female in Ghana's political history; that rank was surpassed by the appointment of Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo as Speaker of the 5th Parliament of Ghana's 4th Republic in January 2009. Chief Justice Wood assumed office on 15 June 2007. While in office, she swore-in four Presidents: the President John Evans Atta-Mills in January 2009, Vice-president John Dramani Mahama upon the death of Atta-Mills on 24 July 2012, President-Elect John Dramani Mahama, winner of the December 2012 General Elections on 7 January 2013, Nana Akuffo-Addo, winner of the December 2016 elections on 7 January 2017. She retired as Chief Justice in June 2017. She was succeeded by Justice Sophia Akuffo.

Council of State On 20 June 2017, Wood was sworn in by President Nana Akuffo-Addo as the 25th and final member of the Council of State. She is on the council by virtue of the fact that she is a former Chief Justice. In 2008, Wood was given an LLD (Honoris Causa) from the University of Ghana.

Other roles Wood is a choir leader at the Ringway Gospel Centre Assemblies of God Church, Accra. She is the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Ghana. She serves on the board of the Global Justice Center, an international human rights law organization based in New York City.

Family Wood is married to Edwin Wood, a retired banker.

Controversies September 2008 NPP Land Allocation On Thursday 7 October 2010, Wood was among 15 people named by the Committee for Joint Action as a beneficiary of allegedly illegal land allocation by the former NPP government. In an official statement, the committee claimed:

According to Accra urban redevelopment researcher Tom Gillespie: