Chaos broke out in Parliament’s Appointments Committee when the Minority attempted to prevent the vetting of two individuals nominated by President Akufo-Addo for the Supreme Court. Justice Sophia Bernasko Essah and Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong were scheduled to answer questions about their eligibility for the Supreme Court on August 13.
However, even before the screening process began, there were issues about the appointments’ constitutionality. Mahama Ayariga, a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, maintained that the appointments were unlawful.
“I believe we have done something illegal and unconstitutional. The president has been exerting power without any base in the constitution or any law that I am aware of, and I want to raise the issue and have it captured, objecting to the nominees on the grounds that they are illegal. “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 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.
In response, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, addressed the concerns raised by the NDC MP. He emphasised that the role of the Appointments Committee is solely to consider and vet the nominations made by the President.
“We are only to vet and report to the preliminary for a decision to be taken. We are not determining whether we are going to take a 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.
