Retired Supreme Court Justice William Atuguba has raised concerns about the composition of the bench that ruled in favor of Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s challenge against Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant.
In an interview on TV3’s The Keypoints on Saturday, November 16, 2024, Justice Atuguba described the majority ruling as “predictable” due to the makeup of the panel.
On November 12, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Afenyo-Markin, overturning Bagbin’s declaration of the Suhum, Amenfi Central, Agona West, and Fomena seats as vacant.
Justice Atuguba noted that the five justices who supported the plaintiff had earlier dismissed Speaker Bagbin’s attempt to set aside the court’s processes, asserting the court’s jurisdiction. He explained that two dissenting justices were added to the panel only for the substantive case.
He also cautioned that partisanship within the judiciary could erode the rule of law, warning that Ghana risks becoming a system driven by politics rather than justice.
“Look at even the empanelment. For what reason will you bring the young justices to handle such a weighty matter to the exclusion of the seniors? What reason?
“Legally I don’t see what was left for them to discuss because in rejecting the application to set aside their directive, they had ruled that they had jurisdiction.
“They had already decided that the speaker had no jurisdiction on the matter so what was left actually for determination? This same panel that ruled that there was jurisdiction were still there and only two came in. The five went the way they went predictably.”
“As I said some time ago, this question of political poison in the judicial system didn’t start today but it has gotten to its peak, under this current administration and that is the real constitutional virus to be reversed”
