Parliament has approved the nominations of Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah, Justice Edward Amoako Asante and private legal practitioner Anthony Forson Jnr for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court.
The approval followed the adoption of the report of Parliament’s Appointments Committee, which recommended all three nominees for appointment despite a contentious vetting process that saw the Minority Caucus boycott the exercise.
The development clears the way for the three nominees to proceed with the remaining constitutional processes towards their appointment to Ghana’s apex court.
President John Dramani Mahama nominated the trio in consultation with the Judicial Council, after which their nominations were referred to Parliament for consideration.
Minority protests accelerated vetting
The approval comes against the backdrop of strong objections from the Minority, led by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, over what the caucus described as an unnecessarily accelerated timetable for the vetting.
Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the urgency attached to the process was unwarranted because there was no vacancy on the Supreme Court bench requiring immediate replacement.
He stressed that the Minority’s objection was not directed at the nominees personally or at the President’s constitutional authority to nominate persons for appointment to the Supreme Court, but rather at the procedure and timetable adopted by the Appointments Committee.
He subsequently led Minority members out of the committee after the Chairman, Bernard Ahiafor, rejected their objection and ruled that the vetting should proceed.
Mr Ahiafor described the grounds of the Minority’s objection as “flimsy”, “hollow” and “baseless”, after which the Majority side of the committee proceeded with the vetting.
Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, brings extensive judicial experience to the nomination. She was previously nominated for appointment to the Supreme Court in 2024 but did not complete the appointment process before the change of administration.
Justice Edward Amoako Asante, also a Court of Appeal Justice, has significant judicial experience, including his previous service as President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice before returning to Ghana’s Court of Appeal.
Anthony Forson Jnr, a private legal practitioner and former President of the Ghana Bar Association, brings several years of experience in legal practice to the proposed Supreme Court bench.
