The Speaker of Parliament has upheld the validity of the Appointments Committee’s report on the vetting of Supreme Court nominees.
He dismissed objections raised by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who claimed the Minority side had not endorsed the document.
The ruling followed heated exchanges on the floor over procedural fairness and the integrity of the vetting process.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had opposed the report’s presentation, insisting it lacked his side’s signatures and accusing the Committee of sidelining their inputs.
However, Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Bernard Ahiafor, countered that the Minority’s preliminary written comments had already been incorporated.
He revealed that Afenyo-Markin had submitted a last-minute request for further revisions this morning, which he deemed procedurally untenable.
After all these, the Speaker concluded that the report was duly prepared and vetted.
According to him, he is aware of what transpired prior to the report presentation, explaining that “you even sought my assistance in some of these matters in my conference room, and went through them together.”
“We thought we had settled them. Now they are being rehashed. I don’t think that is proper. When we are talking about a report of a committee, we are talking about the whole committee. We are not talking about individuals in certain things to suit their understanding of a report of the committee.”
Alban Bagbin added that the Minority will still have the opportunity to present its other concerns regarding the report when it’s laid before the house.
“Whatever you have to say, you can say it here on the floor as part of your contributions to the deliberations of the house. I will give you enough time to say it. We cannot expect the report to capture everything.
“Please. You will not be prevented from saying what you want to say. But when we talk about the report, we are talking about the report capturing the decision of the whole committee. That is what we are looking at. So please, I think the report is properly before the House and it will be presented. And it will be taken by this house today.”