A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
John C. Maxwell
PAUL BAFFOE – BONNIE has gone to the Vetting and come back victoriously.
The vetting went on, the walkout of the NPP members of the Appointments Committee notwithstanding.
There was a showdown between Hon. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin and Hon. Mahama Ayariga. It started with the use of the expression “disputed Chief Justice Nominee” to describe the hard-working Supreme Court judge now Acting Chief Justice and soon-to-be Chief Justice of Ghana: Said Afenyo-Markin “We gather to vet the disputed nominee for the office of Chief Justice.
This is a case of whether Ghana’s Judiciary will remain independent” Hon. Ayariga retorts: “I am objecting to the term ‘disputed’ because there is no dispute regarding the nominee before us” When the Minority could not get their way introducing the “unresolved legal challenges relating to the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkonoo”, they bowed out. Afenyo Markin remarked:
“We are registering that we reject the nomination and the record should reflect that the report of the vetting be a Majority report” Referring to the plethora of cases by the former CJ Torkono at the High Court, Supreme Court and ECOWAS Court, they argued that continuing the process undermines judicial independence and prejudges matters that are still under adjudication – subjudice.
At the vetting, it seems to us, nearly all the questions that the Minority would have asked were asked by the Majority and the CJ answered succinctly: “It does not matter who you are; once it comes to the law, it is no discrimination of persons. That has been my lifestyle, and if anybody is to go through my life, this is what he will come up with”.
He continued: he was confident to build a judicial system that “not only interprets the law but elevates the nation’s conscience” Was his nomination a reward for his role in the 2012 Election Petition in which his vote favoured the sitting President, John Dramani Mahama: He answered: “I wouldn’t know what goes in the president’s mind” But his elevation was the result of merit and long service – not political patronage – appointment by ex-President JJ Rawlings as a Circuit Court judge; appointment to the High Court by President John Agyekum Kufuor; then later (2006) to the Court of Appeal and then (2008) to the Supreme Court. He answered Hon. Ayariga’s question on the delays at Court (some land cases lasting up to 40 years) by structural reforms which would require constitutional amendment. Would the Supreme Court’s size and workload be improved by separating constitutional and appellate function? Yes
What about the suggestion about moving Ghana’s general elections to early November (instead of 7th December) to allow for, at least, 57 days for hearings of disputes before the swearing-in of a new President? Doesn’t the Legal Aid Board deserve support for effective work? And don’t the Courts put themselves in shape for the 24-hour operations?
The dire state of the prisons ought to be looked at (in answer to Hon. Ayamba for Pusiga). The “Justice for All” should be a constant programme and community service for minor offences could be seen as a remarkable proposition. The CJ nominee says “Punishments should serve justice, not vengeance, and where rehabilitation is possible, we must pursue it”. Remarkable!
Who wouldn’t acknowledge that public confidence in the judiciary is waning as a result of delays, inefficiency and corruption? But the CJ nominee admits. “The judiciary is as honest or corrupt as the society it serves”. The President’s constitutional duty is to appoint judges on the advice of the Judicial Council and in consultation with the Council of State, and this should not be disturbed: no “court packing” by Presidents when Judicial appointments are based on merit and subject to multi –institutional checks.
The e- justice system could be expanded to embrace places outside Accra; there was a vital need to improve conditions of service for lower bench staff and magistrates who constitute the bulk of the judiciary who remained poorly paid – a vital requirement for service delivery.
Was there any injunction on the vetting of the CJ nominee? Nothing, so Parliament was right in proceeding to do its constitutional task.
The question to ask is; Is this all that the NPP Minority can do in Parliament? Earlier, it was about the arrest of Bernard Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi) the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP. The Minority staged a walkout of Parliament on 29th May, 2025 when there was serious business to do. The MPs dishonourably went and massed up at EOCO… and sat on the road like paupers. Meanwhile, with a comfortable majority of the NDC in Parliament, business could be carried on there without the input of the minority.
The Executive Director of the African Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) Dr. Rasheed Draman asked “What’s the value of the walkout and the threat not to participate in government business at a time when the NDC has a comfortable majority and can form a quorum to do parliamentary work and to carry out government business? … we are not in the eighth parliament, where a few members could delay or block proceedings. In this ninth parliament, the number no longer favour such tactics”.
In the vetting case, Afenyo Markin quotes a passage in Macbeth which was “our” choicest passage at the 1971 O Level Literature in English: Act 1 Sc 7 (If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly …. Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plaque the inventor…)
First, as I am his kinsman and subject, Strong both against the deed, then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself, Besides this, Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek … I have no spur To prick the slides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on the other…” Hon. Mahama Ayariga (Majority Leader’s) challenge, referring to Order 122 and 123 of the Parliament Standing Orders (Rules of debate and content of speeches-requiring a motion) could not be countenanced by Hon. Afenyo Markin.
Logo –Ligi Logarithm, our lecturer in Russian Language Atukwei Okai would show the parallel in traditional and modern consciousness. We would be urged to follow the rules, Was it “a travesty of justice” at the Parliament’s Appointments Committee? Was Afenyo Markin and the Minority pandering to the whims of ex Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo or playing the political card? Or were they playing to the gallery? What was “special” about beautiful Gertrude Torkonoo?
How does this attitude measure to Speaker Bagbin’s prayer for Parliamentarians to display the “highest standard of civility”? In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius would say: “Oh judgement thou art fled to brutish beasts And men have lost their reason…” (Human beings have lost their capacity for reason and behave like other creatures – not human beings not Members of Parliament) despite their work being highlighted by Articles 93 to 124 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992.
Why would ordinary Ghanaians queue to vote for Members of Parliament, with abundant privileges and luscious perks…. Are we seeing the best of the NPP representatives in Parliament? Or does any NPP MP think we are all Zombies (who can follow them sheepishly)?
Africanus Owusu-Ansah
africanusoa@gmail.com
