Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has advised President John Dramani Mahama to heed the call of the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and exercise caution regarding the Tribunals Bill.
The lawmaker argued that the legislation carries far-reaching implications for the country’s judicial architecture and must be shaped through consensus rather than relying solely on parliamentary numbers.
According to him, there is a compelling reason why tribunals exist in Ghana’s law books yet their implementation has never been effected.
He pointed out that if successive implementers of the 1993 Constitution have abstained from operationalising the tribunals—relying instead on the established hierarchy from District Courts to the Supreme Court—it clearly signals where the true priority lies.
He stressed that High Courts and specialised courts are already fully equipped to handle cases intended for the proposed tribunals, rendering the creation of new tribunals redundant.
Speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, the MP advocated for direct investment into the existing judicial framework.
“I agree with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on his advice to President John Mahama to hasten slowly in assenting to the Tribunals Bill. There is no need to rush in assenting to the bill. There is a reason why we have not operationalised the tribunals despite being in our constitution. He needs to understand the history behind how our constitution was drafted. Ghanaians wanted to get Rawlings to accept constitutional rule, and so there are certain provisions in the constitution you could tell were put there to satisfy him so he would accept constitutional rule,” he told host Kwabena Agyapong.
He stressed that justices must be well remunerated, their professional capacity built, and robust technological systems provided to enhance their overall efficiency.
Patrick Yaw Boamah also cautioned that Ghana’s historical experience with tribunals ought to serve as a guide on how to approach the matter moving forward.
“If the framers and the implementors from 1993, when we started implementing the constitution till date, did not make use of the tribunal system and went ahead in establishing circuit, district, high, appeals, and supreme courts and other specialised courts within the judicial system, then it gives an indication that what the Judicial Service needs now are resources, building their capacity, improving upon technological capacity of the Judicial Services and making sure justices of the courts are paid well. We should make sure their capacity is built well to handle all manner of cases. The cases we want to send to the tribunals are being handled by the courts already. So I believe it’s something we must hold on. The courts are robust enough, so let’s build their capacity, appoint more judges, and provide them with the needed resources to work with.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana