Kwame Governs Agbodza
The Minority Chief Whip, Kwame Governs Agbodza, yesterday took a swipe at the justices of the Supreme Court, claiming that their decisions do not make sense.
“Their rulings have not made sense to me,” he said, while seconding the motion for the House to adopt the report of the Appointments Committee on the President’s nomination of Justice Gertrude A. E. S. Torkornoo for appointment as Chief Justice.
Mr. Agbodza, who turned floor of Parliament to a reviewed forum of the Supreme Court decision on the proof of citizenship, said the apex court, led by former Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, had carried out several “miscarriages of justice” which the one on citizenship is the greatest of all.
“My Speaker, I consider that singular decision by the Supreme Court as the biggest miscarriage of justice in our lifetime, and this must not be allowed to stay.
“Apart from the Supreme Court of Ghana, every state institution believes that a birth certificate acquired in Ghana with your citizenship as Ghana is accepted.
“This is not about law; it is common sense because there is nothing in this constitution which gives the basis of what the Supreme Court has done.
“Let nobody tell me that Supreme Court judges have basis in law what they did. That miscarriage of justice must be reversed,” he asserted on the floor of Parliament to the chagrin of other members.
Not budging to persuasions from the Speaker and other MPs, Mr. Agbodza, who is the NDC MP for Adaklu, insisted that he did not need to be a lawyer to understand that birth certificate is a proof of citizenship.
Attacks On Ex-CJ
“Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude and urge colleagues to support the approval of Justice Torkornoo simply because I think she has what it takes to be a Supreme Court judge.
“And I am hopeful she will be a better Chief Justice than the person she is taking over from. Why do I say this? Under the reign of the outgoing Chief Justice the level of miscarriage of justice in this country reached a crescendo and must never be repeated,” he claimed.
He continued, “The former Chief Justice must know, when he goes home, his miscarriage of justice rests on his chest.”
Speaker Intervention
Uncomfortable by the direct attack on the retired Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah, Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin intervened and urged the NDC MP to be civil in his choice of words.
“Hon. Member, please we have agreed to approve by consensus. I will accept criticisms of the nominee so far as the criticisms are within the law, that is permitted.
“But the law itself says they are the final determinants of the law. And so we will definitely listen to members propounding understanding of the law, but that doesn’t constitute the law. Let’s permit members to do so with decency and civility. Not to use words that offend the law itself,” Mr. Bagbin stated.
He added, “Definitely, the Hon. Member did not only focus on the nominee. He went ahead to talk about the judiciary as a whole and the Supreme Court in particular.
“Hon member, please don’t replay what happened at the public hearing (vetting). The forms you are referring to are products of a regulation, and the regulation is a product of an enactment, and the enactment is a product of the constitution,” he explained.
According to him, when judges look at the product of a regulation, which is unquestionably inferior to the provisions of enabling Acts, which are also definitely inferior to the provisions of the constitution, they take the constitution and interpret it.
“The judges or the courts are of the view that the right interpretation of the law, both the letter and the spirit, is what has been delivered in the judgment that we are abound by.
“Yes, you can criticise but please don’t go to the extent of showing that you are not bound by the decision or disobeying the orders of the court. That definitely will amount to contempt of court,” he admonished.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House