Parliament has endorsed the appointment of three Justice‑designates to the Supreme Court, overriding objections from the Minority Caucus. The approvals, secured by majority decision at both committee and plenary levels, confirmed Justice Edward Amoako Asante and Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko Essah of the Court of Appeal, along with private legal practitioner Anthony Forson Jr.
The decision followed the presentation of the Appointments Committee’s report by its Chairman, Bernard Ahiafor, who also serves as First Deputy Speaker. He recommended that the House adopt the committee’s findings and approve the nominees, a motion subsequently carried by the majority.
During the presentation of the committee’s report, Mr. Ahiafor stated that the Minority Caucus had raised preliminary objections regarding the vetting of the nominees during the public hearing. He mentioned that although the committee responded to these objections, the Minority members chose to stage a walkout, declaring that they had “washed their hands” of the remaining processes related to the vetting of all three nominees.
Nevertheless, Mr. Ahiafor noted that, following the vetting, the majority of members present and voting recommended that the House approve the three nominees as Justices of the Supreme Court, as they had met the constitutional requirements outlined in Article 104.
Explaining the Minority’s opposition, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo‑Markin said the Caucus withheld support for the appointments “for good reasons.” He noted that two ministerial nominees and three Supreme Court nominees were referred to the Appointments Committee on Monday, leaving only three working days during Parliament’s emergency recall to vet five candidates for two of the Republic’s most consequential offices.
He stated that the Minority raised a preliminary objection before any question was put to the judicial nominees. The objection, grounded in nine distinct constitutional and procedural points, was dismissed by the committee’s Chairman. Following that dismissal, the Minority withdrew from the proceedings.
“What this House is now asked to adopt is a report produced solely by Majority members,” Afenyo‑Markin declared. Mr Afenyo-Markin stressed that the Minority’s objection was not directed at the nominees themselves and urged the House not to portray it as such. “Our objection, as I have already stated, has nothing whatsoever to do with the persons of Justice Sophia Bernasko Essah, Justice Amoako Asante, or Mr Tony Forson.
“We have not questioned, and we do not question today, the character, the competence or the standing of any of the three nominees before this House,” he said. He subsequently outlined the nine grounds on which the Minority had based its preliminary objection to the vetting of the nominees.
