The Minority in Parliament has labelled the scheduled vetting of two Supreme Court Judges by the Appointments Committee as unlawful.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, referred Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah and Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong’s nominations to the Appointments Committee for vetting and subsequent reporting to the house.
Governs Agbodza, the Minority Chief Whip, voiced his displeasure at the majority caucus leadership during a preliminary remark at the sitting on Tuesday.
He criticised them for organising the meeting, which he claims was done without the knowledge of the minority members of the committee.
“In my view, chairman you have called an illegal meeting. A meeting to vet members of the Apex court of our land, the Supreme Court, called at midnight can only be an illegal meeting or an ill-motivated meeting. What will be the reason why a party in government would like to vet a very respected group of people in this country where if all of us disagree they are the ones who will settle it for us? Their vetting will be such a controversy.”
“I put on the platform don’t actually smear the Supreme Court judges by getting them involved in this shabby arrangement because there is no rush. There is no vacancy at the Supreme Court which is detrimental to the delivery of justice as we speak,” he stated.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, suggested that the vetting of the Judges be delayed until the correct procedure is adhered to.
“The NDC minority is not against any of the two nominees in person. All that we are asking for is an opportunity to do our work well and then diligently do what the public has asked us to do…As soon as possible, let’s advertise and reschedule this,” he stated.