Parliament has by consensus approved the nomination of Justices Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu and Samuel Kwame AdibuAsiedu as Supreme Court Judges.
The approval of the duo follows the recommendation by the Appointments Committee of the House on the two.
The two successful nominees are part of four nominations made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo earlier in July pursuant to Article 144 of the 1992 Constitution.
The other two, who the Committee has been silent on, are Justices George Kingsley Koomson and Ernest Yao Gaewu.
Moving the motion for the approval of the two nominations, chairman of the committee and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, told the plenary that the two have demonstrated competence in all spheres of the law and should be considered to help in the administration of justice in the country.
“The nominees demonstrated dexterity in the knowledge of the law and showed character and competence. They pledged to interpret the law without fear or favour and eschew partisanship in their rulings.
“The Committee, therefore, recommends to the House by consensus, the approval of Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu and Justice Samuel Kwame AdibuAseidu as Justices to the Supreme Court of Ghana.
“The Committee also requests the House to adopt its report and approve the nominees as Justices to the Supreme Court,” Mr Owusu, MP, Bekwai, said.
Seconding the motion, the Minority Leader and Ranking Member on the Appointments Committee, Haruna Iddrisu, said in as much as the President has the mandate to nominate justices to the apex court, there’s the need for a sealing.
“We have seen significant numbers appointed under President Akufo-Addo to the Supreme Court and Parliament must provide for those limitations. We cannot have open ended appointments to the court,” MrIddrisu, said.
Failure to do so, he said, could lead to a situation where a future president with tyrannical tendencies could take advantage of the lacuna to pack the court for his interest.
“It has always been my position that Ghana does not need more than 13 justices of the Supreme Court. This parliament, somehow, must find a way to limit the numbers of justices of the Supreme Court that the President can nominate.”
To him, President Akufo-Addo has “taken full advantage of the situation and has appointed more judges to the Supreme Court than any other president under the Fourth Republic,” and expressed the trust the nominees will do justice to all manner of persons to enhance justice delivery in the country.
Having put the question and the nominations approved, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, in his remark said the two should have been at the Supreme Court “long long ago.”
He said Justice Ackah-Yensu, a mate of the current Chief Justice has “distinguished herself as a very deep learned professional lawyer. I don’t know why it took that length of time for her to get to the Supreme Court.”
On Justice Asiedu, the Speaker said he has been “questioning why he has been at the High Court from 2006 to 2019. I can’t fathom why that happened because he has been a very excellent lawyer and judge.”
In these regards, he said criteria for appointment of justices to the apex court must be developed to ensure fairness in the promotions at the bench.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
