Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the Majority in Parliament of acting in bad faith during the vetting of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, President Mahama’s nominee for Chief Justice.
The session turned heated after Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga objected to Afenyo-Markin’s description of the nominee as a “disputed nominee,” calling the remark inappropriate and politically charged.
In response, Afenyo-Markin defended his choice of words, insisting that the Majority was attempting to suppress legitimate parliamentary scrutiny and undermine accountability.
> “Chairman, the Majority Leader is clearly acting in bad faith, seeking to obstruct the peaceful process we have started and, as it were, use his numbers to intimidate,” Afenyo-Markin asserted during the proceedings.
He maintained that the Minority had every right to express its reservations about the nomination, which he described as politically motivated. According to him, the vetting process should not be treated as a partisan contest but as a civic responsibility to safeguard the independence of state institutions.
> “The matters giving rise to this nomination are purely political, and every Ghanaian adult knows this,” he stated. “Instead of becoming a moment of national pride and institutional renewal, this vetting has turned into a test of whether the judiciary will remain independent or fall under executive and political control.”
The controversy traces back to the 2024 election campaign, when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) alleged that the government would remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo and replace her an outcome that has now materialised under the Mahama administration.
Story : Nyamebeye Kofi Ansah Sasraku