Chaos erupted at the Appointments Committee of Parliament when the Minority sought to halt the vetting of two nominees selected by President Akufo-Addo for the Supreme Court.
Justice Sophia Bernasko Essah and Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong were scheduled to appear before the Committee on August 13 to discuss their qualifications for the Supreme Court.
Before the vetting could commence, concerns about the constitutionality of the appointments were raised.
Mahama Ayariga, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, argued that the nominations were unconstitutional.
“I believe we have been engaged in an illegal and unconstitutional practice. The President has been exercising powers without any constitutional or legal basis that I am aware of. I want to formally object to these nominations on the grounds that they are unconstitutional and have this objection recorded,” Ayariga stated.
“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.
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.
