The Minority in Parliament has called for the postponement of the vetting of three nominees to the Supreme Court, arguing that there is no immediate need to rush the process because the court currently has no vacancies.
Speaking ahead of the vetting on Thursday, August 27, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the Supreme Court is fully constituted and continues to hear cases requiring urgent attention.
He argued that the latest nominations would increase the number of justices rather than fill existing vacancies, and therefore do not warrant an expedited vetting.
“If there is no vacancy to fill, there is certainly no emergency compelling anyone to fill it inside three days. There is no fire here,” he said.
The nominees are Justice Sophia Bernasko-Essah and Justice Edward Amoako Asante, both Justices of the Court of Appeal, as well as private legal practitioner Anthony Forson Jr, a former President of the Ghana Bar Association.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said Parliament has sufficient time to properly scrutinise the nominees and proposed that the relevant committee conduct the exercise in September and submit its report when the House resumes in October.
He also rejected the argument that the ongoing judicial vacation makes the appointments urgent, stressing that the Supreme Court remains operational and capable of handling matters that require immediate attention.
The Minority Leader, however, said his caucus was willing to support the expedited vetting of two ministerial nominees—Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga and Korle Klottey MP Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings.
Mr Ayariga has been nominated as Minister-designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, while Dr Agyeman-Rawlings has been nominated as Minister-designate for Environment, Science and Technology.
Mr Afenyo-Markin stressed that the Minority’s position was not a rejection of the judicial nominees but a call for Parliament to have adequate time to conduct a thorough assessment.
He maintained that the caucus would not support what he described as an unnecessary rush, insisting that the vetting could be undertaken at a later date without undermining Parliament’s constitutional duty to scrutinise nominees.
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