The Minority in Parliament is accusing President Akufo-Addo of taking advantage of the constitution to pad the Supreme Court.
President Akufo-Addo has nominated three new persons to go on to the Supreme Court following the retirement of some judges recently.
The appointed Justices Henry Kwofi, Yaw Asare Darko and Adjei Frimpong are all currently Justices of the Court of Appeal.
Read also: https://www.myjoyonline.com/akufo-addo-nominates-3-new-justices-to-supreme-court/
If confirmed, President Akufo-Addo alone would have appointed 18 Supreme Court judges, the biggest number by any president in Ghana’s history.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, November 10, the South Dayi MP, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor expressed his dismay about the appointment since there are no vacancies at the Supreme Court to be filled.
According to him, the increase is not needed since the court on average is empaneled by five or seven Judges.
“The evidence is that out of the 15 Supreme Court judges that we have, three have gone on retirement this year so it means that we have 12 sitting Supreme Court judges who can actively serve the court. The full panel of the court is nine so there is no vacancy at the court.
“He is taking advantage of the constitutional lacuna of not placing a cap on the number of judges that can serve at the Supreme Court. So he has decided to increase the number from 12 to 15,” he stated.
However, the Majority Leadership has been fighting the claims of Mr Dafeamekpor
According to the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, if the South Dayi MP has a problem with the appointment and thinks the President is abusing the laws, he can take it on.
“He is a lawyer, he should tell us the legal basis for that statement. That is a sweeping statement, it is not tenable and not based on law … packing the court? What are you supposed to mean?” he asked.
This notwithstanding, Mr Annoh-Dompreh commended the President for filling the vacancy at the Supreme Court.
“I think the President in all force is right in terms of the law,” he added.
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