Copyright naagyeifmonline
The Minority’s plea to halt the screening of Chief Justice nominee Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie was denied by Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin. Speaker Bagbin declared in a speech to the House on Friday, November 7, that there was no procedural or constitutional reason to stop the proceedings regarding ongoing court matters. The Speaker declared, “There is no constitutional or standing order basis for Parliament to halt the process simply because there are pending cases in court.” “If I accept that argument, it would imply that any claimant may freeze the functioning of Parliament and its committees by filing a case, thereby holding Parliament hostage. The motion has been returned to its sponsor, Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader, since it is inadmissible. The Speaker’s decision comes after the Minority insisted that until all legal challenges brought by the dismissed Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, are settled, the vetting of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, who is now serving as Acting Chief Justice, should not begin. On Monday, November 10, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie is expected to testify before the Appointments Committee in order to be considered for the position of substantive head of the Judiciary. On the floor, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin insisted that his group would oppose any attempt to screen the nominee while the legal proceedings are ongoing. “We will not endorse a business committee report that contains a section stating that screening will take place. On Monday, he added, “He [Majority Leader] should remove that; he should withdraw that bit so that the original part of the business committee’s report remains without any vetting at all.” “Mr. Speaker, in any case, we, the Minority, as law-abiding as we are, filed a motion several days ago and have done several follow-ups,” he went on. Our minority should not be taken for granted, Mr. Speaker. The Majority Leader cannot just tell us that Justice Araba Torkornoo’s request is irrelevant while we wait for all of this.” “We are not dealing with minds; she is a Ghanaian who was appointed; she has submitted to the necessary process; her rights must be honoured. That screening is not going to take place. You have to abide by the law and due process. Mr. Afenyo-Markin continued.
