Investigate Speaker's election bribery allegation against Supreme Court judge - Kwaku Azar

Legal luminary Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare alias Kwaku Azar has said that allegations, by Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, that a Supreme Court judge tried to bribe a National Democratic Congress(NDC) MP to vote for Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye must be immediately investigated thoroughly.

He has described the allegation as extremely serious and deserving of a probe so as to establish the veracity or otherwise of the claims by the long-serving MP for the Asawase Constituency.

Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed has alleged in an interview with Joy News that in the lead up to the election of the Speaker of Parliament, a Supreme Court Judge sought to bribe an NDC MP so that the MP could vote for the NPP’s candidate for the Speakership position, Prof Mike Oquaye.

This allegation, according to Kwaku Azar, must not be dismissed as a diversionary tactic as being suggested by some supporters of the NPP.

“Hon. Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak bribery allegation involving judges, if true, is extremely serious and merits an immediate, professional and thorough investigation,” Prof Azar noted.

Several other notable personalities have also called for an investigation into the allegation given the stature and mandate of Supreme Court justices.

The Election of Speaker

In an unprecedented move an opposition-sponsored candidate, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, got elected as the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament after a raucous process in the chamber of Parliament.

The NPP has been optimistic that notwithstanding the fact that they had the same number of MPs as the NDC, they were sure to have their candidate, Prof Mike Oquaye elected since the only independent candidate, the MP for Fomena, had pledged to support the NPP MPs.

At the end of the voting process, however, Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, a stalwart of the NDC, won with 138 votes against Prof Oquaye’s 136. One vote was rejected.