Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has turned down a request from the Minority Caucus to suspend the vetting of Chief Justice nominee, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
Delivering his ruling on Friday, the Speaker stated that there was neither a constitutional nor procedural foundation to justify halting the vetting process due to ongoing court proceedings.
“There is no constitutional or standing order basis for Parliament to halt the process simply because there are pending cases in court,” Speaker Bagbin said.
“Should I accept that argument, it would mean that any litigant could hold Parliament hostage by filing a case and freezing the work of Parliament and its committees. The motion is inadmissible and has been returned to the sponsor, the Minority Leader, Honourable Alexander Afenyo-Markin.”
The Speaker’s decision came after the Minority insisted that the vetting of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, who is currently serving as Acting Chief Justice, should be paused until all legal actions filed by the former Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, are concluded.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie is expected to appear before the Appointments Committee on Monday, November 10, for his vetting to become the substantive head of the Judiciary.
Despite this, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin declared on the floor that his side would not back any process that allows the vetting to proceed while court cases remain unresolved.
“We will not support a report, that business committee report that has an aspect that says that there is going to be vetting. He [Majority Leader] should take that off; he should withdraw that bit so that the original component of the business committee’s report remains without any vetting whatsoever on Monday,” he stated.
He further emphasized his caucus’s commitment to legal due process, saying:
“Mr Speaker, in any event, we, the Minority, as law-abiding as we are, filed a motion several days ago and have done several follow-ups. Mr. Speaker, our Minority should not be taken for granted. Awaiting all of this, the Majority Leader cannot just announce to us that Justice Araba Torkornoo’s prayer does not matter.”
“She is a Ghanaian who was appointed; she has submitted herself to all due process; her rights must be respected; we are not dealing with minds. That vetting will not happen; it will not happen. You must follow due process, follow the law,” Mr Afenyo-Markin added.
Source: Adomonline
ALSO READ: