The Minority in Parliament has announced its intention to grant approval to Justice Gertrude Torkornoo as the Chief Justice of Ghana
Initially, the group had put on hold their unanimous support for the Chief Justice nominee, awaiting the Supreme Court’s complete ruling on the dual citizenship case involving James Gyakye Quayson, the former Member of Parliament for Assin North.
Speaking to the press, Mahama Ayariga, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, stated that despite the minority caucus disagreeing with the apex court’s decision, they will not withhold their endorsement of the Chief Justice nominee.
Thankfully, the reasoning in the James Gyakye Quayson case has been delivered by the Supreme Court earlier than 7th June. This has afforded us the opportunity to review the reasoning. The nominee for the post of Chief Justice (Justice Gertrude Araba Essaba Torkornoo) told the whole world that she is a textualist in her preferred approach to interpreting the Constitution of Ghana 1992.
Mr. Ayariga contended that Mr. Quayson fulfilled the eligibility criteria as a member of parliament when he was sworn in as an MP.
The facts of the case, not disputed at any time, are that Quayson, at the time of being sworn in to become a member of Parliament, had successfully renounced all allegiances to any other country and his allegiance was to only the Republic of Ghana.
Therefore, Mr. Ayariga emphasized that, due to the timely release of the Assin North judgment prior to the issued deadline of June 7, the Minority members of the Appointments Committee “will not withhold our approval of the Chief Justice nominee by consensus.”
The Minority had previously declined to vote on the nominee after her vetting, indicating that they would only reverse their decision once the Assin North judgment becomes accessible to them before June 7.
