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