The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament has
made a U-turn on the vetting of the President’s nomination of Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah
as Chief Justice.
They had said they were boycotting the mandatory vetting of the
Chief Justice nominee after they claimed the time for the process was too
short.
However, the same political grouping turned around yesterday to say
they were then prepared to get involved in the vetting.
A yesterday statement signed by Minority
Leader Haruna Iddrisu said, “The Minority in Parliament wishes to bring to the
attention of the general public that following further consultations and an
intervention by the leadership of Parliament, we have today reached an
understanding that makes it possible to reconsider our position and commit to
participating in the vetting of the President’s nominee for the high office of
Chief Justice.”
“We take note that the public vetting of Justice Anin-Yeboah shall
now be held on Monday the 23rd of December, 2019 at 9 am,” they said.
“Ghanaians can expect us to discharge our constitutional duty
diligently and thoroughly, especially considering our high regard for the
eminent office the nominee will be occupying as head of the judicial arm of government
if approved. As we have emphasized earlier, our position on this matter is
borne out of respect for our practice and processes without any prejudice
whatsoever to the nominee in question,” they added.
“The Minority will continue to place first the larger interest of
Ghana and insist on strict adherence to credible parliamentary democracy,” the
NDC claimed.
Date Cleared
In Parliament yesterday, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament,
Joseph Osei-Owusu, confirmed the vetting would be done on Monday.
Parliament had originally scheduled Friday, December 20, for the
vetting but the NDC Minority threatened to boycott the proceedings because they
thought the time for the vetting was too short to allow the committee to receive
memoranda on the nominee from the public.
Both the Minority and Majority later by consensus agreed to vet the
nominee on Monday, December 23, 2019 before Parliament rises for the Christmas
holidays.
The vetting will take place early in the morning to enable the committee to prepare its report for the plenary to either approve or disapprove of the nominee before rising.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr
