Partisanship of nominees to supreme court our concern – Minority

The Minority in parliament has opposed the approval of two out of four Justices nominated to the Supreme court by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Debating the approval of the nominations on Friday, 24 March 2023, on the floor of Parliament, the Minority stressed that the opposition of the approval of the nominees was not a matter of their regions of origin.

Deputy Majority leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, in appealing for unison from both sides of the House on the approval of the nominees to the supreme court had indicated that one of the nominees hailed from the Volta region.

However, the Minority noted that its disapproval of the nominees is not about their origin but rather their partisanship.

Tamale North legislator, Alhassan Suhuyini, stressed that the origin of the nominees is of no importance to the Minority but rather their tendency to tilt towards the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is what is of concern to the side.

“Again it is not about the origin of the nominee or the nominees, that is not important to us on this side, it is about the partisanship of the nominees. It is about the judicial philosophy of these nominees is about the concern and the fear that these nominees have the tendency to defer more to the NPP executives,” Mr Suhuyini said.

He reiterated that: “It is not about where they hail from it is more about their partisanship, their judicial philosophy and their tendency to defer to the NPP executives.”

The Tamale North lawmaker, also bemoaned the unbridled nature of the President in nominating Justices to the Supreme Court, emphasising that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should have been a bit more disciplined despite the fact that there is no ceiling stipulated by 1992 Constitution, in appointing Supreme Court Judges.

“Presidents before this president have been disciplined when it comes to the nomination of people to the bench. That is why it is important that we raise the issue of numbers of people that are appointed the bench,” the Tamale North MP added.