Tensions flared during the vetting of two judges by the Appointment Committee, as members from the Majority and Minority sides clashed over the proceedings in Accra on Tuesday.
Justice Sophia Bernasko Essah and Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong were scheduled to answer questions regarding their eligibility for the Supreme Court.
The Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, challenged the powers of President Akufo-Addo to appoint more than nine justices to the Supreme Court in addition to the Chief Justice.
He argued that the Constitution sets the number of Supreme Court justices at nine in addition to the Chief Justice.
He also contended that even though the constitution does not put a bar on the maximum number of Supreme Court Justices to be appointed, presidents in the past and the current presidents have sought to allocate to themselves this power.
Ayariga therefore noted that such an act was a clear violation of the constitution.
In response, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, argued that the role of the Appointments Committee was to consider and vet the nominations made by the President.
After a heated argument, the chairperson of the committee, Patricia Appiagyei, suspended proceedings temporarily to decide whether to continue with the vetting or not.
On resumption from the break, the appointments committee voted on whether to continue with the vetting which ended in a tie.
In line with the rules of parliament that note that a tie-in vote is a loss on the part of the motion, the vice chairperson Patricia Appiagyei ruled Mahama Ayariga’s motion as having been lost.
The vetting of the two nominees resumed afterwards.
