Retired Supreme Court Justice William Atuguba has expressed concerns about the composition of the Supreme Court panel that ruled in favour of Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s suit challenging Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant.
Speaking on TV3’s The Keypoints on Saturday, November 16, 2024, Justice Atuguba described the majority decision as “predictable,” given the panel’s makeup.
On November 12, the Supreme Court sided with Afenyo-Markin, ruling against Bagbin’s declaration of the Suhum, Amenfi Central, Agona West, and Fomena seats as vacant.
Justice Atuguba highlighted that the five justices who ruled in favour of the plaintiff had previously dismissed Speaker Bagbin’s application to set aside the court’s processes, asserting the court’s jurisdiction over the matter. He noted that two dissenting justices were only added to the panel for the substantive case.
He further warned that partisanship within the judiciary could undermine the rule of law, cautioning that Ghana risks devolving into a system ruled by politics rather than justice.
“Look at even the empanelment. For what reason will you bring the young justices to handle such a weighty matter to the exclusion of the seniors? What reason?
“Legally I don’t see what was left for them to discuss because in rejecting the application to set aside their directive, they had ruled that they had jurisdiction.
“They had already decided that the speaker had no jurisdiction on the matter so what was left actually for determination? This same panel that ruled that there was jurisdiction were still there and only two came in. The five went the way they went predictably.”
“As I said some time ago, this question of political poison in the judicial system didn’t start today but it has gotten to its peak, under this current administration and that is the real constitutional virus to be reversed”
#GhanaPolls2024
#ElectionBureau
#CitiVerify
