Minority Ambush Vetting Of SC Judges … With Articles 128 & 144 But Fail To Stop The Process

A scene was created at the Appointment’s Committee sitting on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 following attempts by the minority to truncate the proceedings. The Committee had met yesterday to vet the two Appeal Court judges nominated by the President for appointments
to the Supreme Court.

Before the committee would proceed to ask the first nominee, Justice Sophia Rosetta Oduokuwa Bernasko Essah the first question, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, raised concerns about the constitutional power of the president to increase the number of Supreme Court justices.

The issue he raised was supported by the Minority Leader, Ato Forson, Cletus Avoka and others, but the Majority stood its ground and offered counter-arguments to defeat the attempt to halt the vetting. The vice chairperson of the Appointment Committee, Patricia Appiagyei, heeded a call by the MP for Nsawam- Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, to
suspend the sitting for the committee to move into conclave.

Upon their return, the Chair ruled on the issue, dismissing the matter the NDC MPs had raised, stressing that their job as a committee was to vet the appointees
and nothing more.The vetting proceeded thereafter, with the minority MPs fully participating, as the two nominees were vetted.

ISSUE RAISED

The Bawku Central MP fortified his argument with Article 128 of the 1992 Constitution, which says the Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other Justices of the apex court.
According to him, the President does not have the power to increase the number of Supreme Court judges, though the constitution is silent on the upper ceiling.

“Now, as we speak, we have 15 Justices on the Supreme Court. We are told that one is retiring, but we have 15 Justices of the Supreme Court. It means that we have nine plus the Chief Justice, making it 10, and an additional five, making it 15,” he said.
The Minority MP continued that, “The legal issue that I’m raising before this committee, which should be captured in our report for discussion, is this. Whereas the Constitution in Article 144 says the President shall appoint the Justices, there is no way in this Constitution
that the President is given the power to increase the number beyond the nine plus one. Nowhere.”

He continued that, “I think that we have been doing an illegal thing, an unconstitutional
thing. The President has been exercising the power without any foundation in the constitution or any law that I know, and I want to raise it and have it captured, object to the nominations on the basis of the fact that it is unconstitutional.

“It flies in the face of Article 128 of the Constitution, and it is not founded in Article 144 of the Constitution. It offends the discretionary power provisions of Article 296. It doesn’t satisfy the Parliament’s powers to fill in voids under Article 298 of the constitution.
“I don’t know if you want to continue with this exercise, but to tell you the truth, we’ve been doing the wrong thing,” he said.

COUNTER-ARGUMENT
The Majority Leader and New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, counter-argued their claim and emphasised the Appointments Committee’s role in vetting nominations made by the President.
“We are only to vet and report to the plenary for a decision to be taken. We are not determining whether we are going to take the matter under a certificate of agency, which will be determined by a committee. No, this is vetting. Madam Chair, I am ready for her to start,” he said.

CAPTURE CONCERNS
The Deputy Majority Leader and NPP MP for Asokwa, Patricia Appiagyei, who presided over the Committee in the absence of the First Deputy Speaker and NPP for Bekwai, Joseph Osei Owusu, suggested capturing concerns raised by the Minority members in the committee’s report for plenary consideration.

After the debate, the committee voted, resulting in a tie (7-7), thereby dismissing the motion.

The committee comprises 15 members, with 7 from each side, plus the Chair. In parliamentary proceedings, a motion is automatically defeated when there is a tie during a vote to make a decision.

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