By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, Aug. 27, GNA – The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority Caucus in Parliament on Thursday boycotted the vetting of three Supreme Court nominees, citing concerns over what it described as an unduly compressed timetable for the process.
The Minority argued that there were currently no vacancies on the Supreme Court bench requiring urgent replacement and questioned the speed with which the nominations were being considered.
Speaking before Parliament’s Appointments Committee at Parliament House, Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader, said the caucus’ objection was not directed at the nominees themselves but at the procedure and timeframe adopted for the vetting.
Mr Afenyo-Markin challenged the Majority to demonstrate how any delay in the process would adversely affect the State, the Judiciary or litigants.
“These nominations came to the House on Monday. Let us reason together and let us be seen as being consistent with our political views. If you want to follow the precedent, please suspend today’s sitting, properly put out the advert as you requested when you were in opposition, and let us wait for the 14 days,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
The Minority maintained that its position was intended to uphold parliamentary procedures and constitutional requirements rather than obstruct the work of the Committee or embarrass the nominees.
However, Mr Bernard Ahiafor, Chairman of the Appointments Committee, rejected the Minority’s objection, describing the reasons advanced as “flimsy,” “hollow” and “baseless.”
He stated that members dissatisfied with decisions taken by the House must resort to the mechanisms provided under Parliament’s Standing Orders.
“If you are aggrieved by the decision of the House, the method available for you to reverse that decision is contained in our own Standing Orders,” Mr Ahiafor said.
“I will not preside over this committee and purport to vary the orders or directions or decisions taken at the plenary by the entire House.
“It is not done in any democracy, and I will not be the first to introduce it in Ghana’s democracy,” he said.
Mr Ahiafor also dismissed calls for the Committee to apply a different standard to the consideration of Supreme Court nominees.
Following the Chairman’s ruling, the Minority members, led by Mr Afenyo-Markin, walked out of the vetting session.
The nominees appearing before the Committee are Justice Sophia Bernasko-Essah, a Justice of the Court of Appeal; Justice Edward Amoako Asante, a Justice of the Court of Appeal and former President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice; and Mr Anthony Forson Jr., private legal practitioner and former President of the Ghana Bar Association.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Reporter: Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA
Email: [email protected]