President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has nominated three persons for appointment as Supreme Court justices — one of them a top legal practitioner and two justices of the Court of Appeal.
The justices of the Court of Appeal are Mr. Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu and Mr. Justice Clemence J. Honyenuga, whilst the private legal practitioner is Yoni Kulendi.
The President’s decision was informed by a replacement response following the retirement of three Supreme Court justices.
The nominees will face a parliamentary committee on appointments, a procedure which is largely a formality although tough questions could pop up from the legislators.
The Supreme Court, as per the 1992 Constitution, is made up of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other justices of the Supreme Court.
The Chief Justice is appointed by the President acting in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of Parliament.
The Supreme Court justices too are appointed by the President acting upon the Judicial Council and in consultation with the Council of State and the approval of Parliament.
Justice Tanko, as he is fondly called, is associated with many high-profile cases, one of them being in the soccer arena.
As chairman of the Ghana Remand Review Taskforce in July 2018, Justice
Honyenuga challenged those who criticized the
programme to base their criticisms on facts and figures.
According to him, their baseless and
unconstructive criticisms are demoralizing those who are implementing the
programme, which is geared towards decongesting the country’s prisons.
He threw the challenge to critics of the programme at the Sunyani Central Prison after three courts had acquitted and discharged 14 remand prisoners, convicted some and given bail to others.
Lawyer Kulendi is a high-notch legal practitioner with many successful cases to his credit.
He attended the University of Ghana, Legon, where he earned his LLB in 1992 before proceeding to the School of Law for his BL in 1994.
His appearance before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee will be exciting.
By A.R. Gomda