The Minority in Parliament has walked out of the Appointments Committee, boycotting the vetting of three Supreme Court nominees over what it describes as an unnecessarily rushed process.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the opposition’s objection was not directed at the nominees but at the “compressed” timetable adopted for their vetting.
According to him, there is currently no vacancy on the Supreme Court bench that warrants the urgency being attached to the appointments.
Speaking before the Appointments Committee on Thursday, August 27, Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the nominees should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny and public notice traditionally applied to Supreme Court nominations.
“These nominations came to the House on Monday. Let us reason together and let us be seen as being consistent with our political views,” he said.
“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.”
The Minority maintained that its position was intended to protect parliamentary procedure and constitutional requirements, rather than frustrate the nominees or the work of the committee.
But Appointments Committee Chairman Bernard Ahiafor rejected the argument, describing the Minority’s concerns as “flimsy”, “hollow” and “baseless”.
Mr Ahiafor said members who disagreed with a decision of the House must use the procedures provided under Parliament’s Standing Orders to seek a reversal.
“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,” he said.
He further insisted that he would not unilaterally alter a decision already taken by the full House.
“I will not preside over this committee and purport to vary the orders or directions or decision taken at the plenary by the entire House,” Mr Ahiafor added.
Following the exchange, Mr Afenyo-Markin led the Minority members out of the vetting, leaving the committee to proceed without them.
The three nominees are Justice Sophia Bernasko-Essah, a Court of Appeal Justice; Justice Edward Amoako Asante, a Court of Appeal Justice and former President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice; and private legal practitioner Anthony Forson Jr., a former President of the Ghana Bar Association.
