By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, March 24, GNA – The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority in Parliament has opposed the approval of two Supreme Court Justice nominees; Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Justice George Kingsley Koomson.
The Minority say Justice Gaewu was a parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and he is, therefore, inappropriate to be on Supreme Court bench.
Per the curriculum vitae of Justice Gaewu, while he was in private practice as a lawyer, he was politically active, particularly between 2009 and 2016, having served as a constituency chairman and parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party in the Ho West and Ho Central constituencies.
Debating the Motion moved by Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, Deputy Majority Leader, and seconded by Alhaji Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, MP for Asawase, said his approval would be “a bad reflection on the House.”
“Mr Speaker when we set a bad precedent, tomorrow it becomes the yardstick for others to make this same demand.”
On the part of Justice George Koomson, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak argued that he “just joined the Court of Appeal and that there were other competent and qualified justices that could have been elevated to the Supreme Court instead of him.”
The Members of Parliament are yet to vote to decide the fate of the Supreme Court nominees after the report of the Appointment Committee was tabled before the House.
Meanwhile, the House had earlier approved the nominations of Justice Barbara Ackah-Yensu and Justice Samuel Adibu Asiedu as Justices of the Supreme Court.
They were inducted into office in December 2022.
During the swearing-in ceremony, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged the Appointments Committee of Parliament to play its patriotic duties by approving Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu and Justice George Kingsley Koomson.
“I perform the most important act of the administration of the third arm of government, which is the swearing into office of two Justices of the Supreme Court and I refer to Justice Frances Barbara Ackah-Yensu and Justice Samuel Kwame Adibo Asiedu….”
“I, therefore, await Parliament’s approval of the two remaining nominees; Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu and Justice George Kingsley Koomson to fill the vacancies created as a result of the retirement of Justice Clemence Honyenuga, which took place on September 24, 2022, and Justice Agnes Dordzie, who retired on October 2, 2022.”
GNA