A heated dispute erupted in Parliament during a meeting between the Minority and Majority members of the Appointments Committee over the vetting process for new Supreme Court nominees.

The controversy centers around claims by Minority Members of Parliament (from the National Democratic Congress) that Majority Leader Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin secretly scheduled a vetting session at a time not agreed upon by the Committee.

This move sparked outrage among the Minority MPs, who voiced their frustrations during a meeting on July 30, 2024.

In audio recordings obtained by GhanaWeb’s Parliamentary Correspondent, Nimatu Yakubu Atouyese, the Minority MPs expressed their displeasure with Afenyo-Markin’s actions.

Mahama Ayariga criticized the rushed approach, questioning why the vetting was being expedited despite prior discussions about taking a more measured approach.

“Leader, we were here yesterday, we had a meeting at which we discussed this matter and said we do not want to embarrass these judges. It’s a new Appointments Committee. Notice was served to the nominees to come without us having had a meeting – no meeting. Notice was served to the public to produce memos with no meeting.

“Then yesterday, we met and said what is the rush? We have a lot of time so let’s take our time and not embarrass these judges. Let’s do a decent job… only to see in a midnight WhatsApp message exchanges that we are being summoned as a committee to come and vet these people…,” he said.

“I can confirm that when I came in here this morning, only GTV was here, so we asked, what about the other parliamentary press corps. We didn’t get any proper answer so, the Minority Leader directed that let the parliamentary press corps be here, so that is the fact…

“Just to add, chairman, you have called an illegal meeting; a meeting to vet members of the apex court of our land – the Supreme Court, called at midnight, can only be an illegal meeting, or ill-motivated meeting. What will be the reason why a party in government will like to vet very respected people in this country where if all of us disagree, they are the ones who will step in for us; their vetting will be such a controversy.

“I put on the platform, ‘Don’t actually smear the Supreme Court Justices by getting them involved in this shabby arrangement because there’s no rush. In fact, there’s no vacancy at the Supreme Court which is detrimental to the delivery of justice as we speak… and then we are told that the Majority Leader came back and rubbished all that we have done including his members on the committee… so, I consider this meeting as an illegal meeting to put together members of a legal committee. How can this be? Nobody on this team is against any judge. In fact, we actually want more of them to be vetted in a decorous and respectful way. So, nobody should blame the judges, the problem being created is created by President Akufo-Addo-Dr-Bawumia-led Majority in parliament,” he also said.

Ato Forson, the Minority, also unhappy about the turn of things, put together a list of things his compatriot on the Majority side had done, calling them ‘sins.’

“I’m honestly appalled. You have broken the trust of the NDC Minority Caucus and you have committed a number of sins, and I’ll tell you the sins you have committed. Your first sin, you unilaterally wrote a letter to the nominees inviting them for vetting without the input of the Appointments Committee.

“Sin number two, you wrote to the nominees, setting Wednesday 31st without our input. Then number three, after we met as a committee, and agreed that we will do this vetting before we are recalled, so that during the recall, we will take them, you unilaterally informed them that you have not shifted the 31st you agreed to Tuesday, and going forward, you will hold it and submit the report to the House. Madam, this is not a Bana Republic. This is the Republic of Ghana. This is the Black Star of Africa; this is Kwame Nkrumah’s republic of Ghana. Please, don’t destroy our democracy.

“At the minimum, you had to give us the opportunity to study the nominees and the people of Ghana must see us that we are doing our work. We cannot joke with this democracy,” he said.

In response to the turmoil, the vetting process has been suspended indefinitely, leaving the matter unresolved and highlighting ongoing tensions within Parliament.