Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has ruled out the possibility of Chief Justice Nominee, Justice Justice Gertrude Torkornoo being revetted.
He asserted that there is no basis for the nominee to be recalled by the committee.
The Minority refused to pass a vote on the nominee until they received a copy of the reasons behind the decision by the Supreme Court to have the name of the Assin North MP’s name expunged from the records of parliament.
“The Minority Members on the Appointments Committee of Parliament did not vote on the President’s nominee for the position of Chief Justice today due to the unavailability of the reasoned judgement of the Supreme Court in the matter of Hon. James Gyakye Quayson.”
“It is important to state that the Appointments Committee not long ago in 2019 vetted and approved this same nominee as a justice of the Supreme Court.
“However, it was imperative for Members of The Minority on the Committee to evaluate the decisions of the nominee on all other cases, including the James Gyakye Quayson case since the vetting in 2019,” excerpts of a press release issued by the Caucus said.
Reacting, the Chairman said, “It is our practice that, any time that we are done with a public hearing, the Committee sits and considers whether to recommend the person or not and so the conclusion we came to was that there is no consensus.”
“You will recall that [Mahama] Ayariga made a statement that unless they get a copy of the case involving the Assin North MP, they will not support the nominee.”
“They [Minority Caucus] came to the vetting with a position; do it for me, or I don’t. We went through the vetting, and we are satisfied that there is no basis for deferring the decision because you want to read the judgment.”
He added that his side will vote and approve the nominee should the Minority refuse to do the same.
“They also argued that because they have not read the judgment, they won’t support her, but it is a one-off event. We recommend her for approval by a Majority,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
