No Emergency To Vet Supreme Court Nominees In 3 Days – Afenyo-Markin
Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has opposed moves by the Majority to vet and approve five nominees, including three Supreme Court Justices, before Parliament rises on Friday.
According to him, the referral of the nominees came on the first day of the emergency recall of Parliament, and there is no justification for rushing the process.
“The Right Honourable Speaker referred five names to the Appointments Committee. Two nominees for ministerial office, three nominees for the Supreme Court of Ghana. That referral came on the very first day of this House, of this emergency recall,” he told the press ahead of vetting of two new designated Ministers on August 27, 2026.
He disclosed that the Majority wants all five nominees vetted, reported on and approved before the House rises on Friday, a move the Minority is resisting.
“The recall ends tomorrow, Friday. The Majority now want all five nominees vetted, reported on, and approved before the House rises. We say no, and we say it with the Constitution and our own Standing Orders in our hands,” he stated.
Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that there is no vacancy-driven emergency to warrant vetting the Supreme Court nominees within three days.
“If there is no vacancy to fill, there is certainly no emergency compelling anyone to fill it within three days. There is no fire here,” he said.
He proposed that Parliament has sufficient time to conduct a thorough vetting, suggesting the Appointments Committee could vet the nominees in September and submit its report when the House resumes in October.
He also dismissed suggestions that the ongoing judicial vacation has created an emergency, insisting that the Supreme Court continues to sit and determine urgent matters.
The three Supreme Court nominees are Justice Sophia Bernasko-Essah, a Justice of the Court of Appeal; Justice Edward Amoako Asante, a Court of Appeal Justice and former President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice; and private legal practitioner Anthony Forson Jr, a former President of the Ghana Bar Association.
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