Fault-Lines Revealed.… as Torkornoo’s Hasty Ruling Sets Parliament on Fire.

Published

2 months ago

October 22, 2024

admin

The Supreme Court’s ruling which stayed the declaration by the Speaker of Parliament that four seats in the Legislature have become vacant has provoked criticism amidst the reigniting of sentiments that the apex court is a full-blown mule of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Tensions have reached a fever pitch with anticipated showdown as the house reconvenes today in furtherance of its mandated businesses, and the blame is being put squarely on the Justice Torkornoo led Supreme Court Panel that has sort to interfere in what would otherwise have passed for a debate of opinions in the house of parliament.

Now, critics are pointing out the vandalism of the principle of the separation of powers involved in the matter in which the Judiciary, which is the third organ of State, overreaches to determine how another organ should run its internal affairs.

Then there is the sheer alacrity with which the ruling was given and how compared to other even weightier issues, the same supreme court had dragged its feet for years.

additionally, critics are pointing out the repetition of a sick pattern in which the supreme court justices always rule in favor of the NPP and do so with such seeming choreographed unanimity that the judges who sit on the panels that adjudicate political cases actually appear to think from one head.

Last week Friday, the apex court had stayed a declaration by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin that the seats in Amenfi Central constituency in the Western Region, Fomena in the Ashanti Region, Suhum in the Eastern Region, and Agona West in the Central region had become vacant.

The case had been filed by Alexander Afenyo Markins, leader of the NPP’s MPs in Parliament on Thursday and less than 24 hours later, the supreme court empanelled five justices, led by Chief Justice Getrude Torkonoo, to hear the case.

For many, the speed with which the case was heard is a wonder. This because, at the same Supreme Court, a case that a law Professor, Kwaku Asare, had filed to challenge President Akufo-Addo’s removal of Auditor General Yaw Domelevo from office, had pended until after three years.

The court would rule that Mr. Akufo-Addo had been wrong in removing the Domelevo from office but by that time, Mr. Domelevo had already retired making the court’s judgment effectively useless.

Menwhile some critics have pointed out that the Supreme Court has no power to challenge any declaration by the Speaker that pertains to Parliament’s internal affairs. One of them is Prof. Kwaku Ansa-Asare, a former Director of the Ghana School of Law.

In a critique, he pointed out that Parliament operates under its own Standing Orders, regulations, and procedures, and its actions cannot be “challenged in a court of law or expect the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling of the Speaker.

“We are practising separation of powers. Each arm of government is a domain in its own right, so just as the executive cannot be faulted when they take decisions, we may also expect that whatever Parliament does in the regular exercise of its jurisdictions cannot be questioned.”

another critic, US-based Ghanaian lawyer and scholar, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, widely known as Kwaku Azar, has also stated the Supreme even lacks original jurisdiction for the case. According to him, issues on the declaration of seats in Parliament vacant must be handled by the High Court and not the Supreme Court.

in a Facebook post, he wrote, “The framers of the constitution, through Article 99, clearly designated the High Court as the appropriate forum for resolving disputes about vacating seats. Further, appellate review is left to the Court of Appeal, not the Supreme Court. The High Court, with its specialised mandate, is better suited for such matters, while the Supreme Court’s role is reserved for broader constitutional issues. The Supreme Court has no role in these matters as the Court articulated in the Wulensi matter.

“When the Supreme Court oversteps and takes on cases meant for the High Court, it risks undermining the constitutional order and appearing to engage in political matters. Such overreach disrupts the balance of powers and weakens public confidence in the judiciary’s impartiality. By adhering to Article 99, and allowing the High Court to handle these issues, we protect both the integrity of the judicial system and the peace of the nation.”
Article 99 of the 1992 Constitution states that:

According to the criticism, the relevant constitutional provisions are tha, “(1) The High Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any question whether— (a) a person has been validly elected as a member of Parliament or the seat of a member has become vacant; or

(b) a person has been validly elected as a Speaker of Parliament or, having been so elected, has vacated the office of Speaker.

(2) A person aggrieved by the determination of the High Court under this article may appeal to the Court of Appeal.”

In addition to critics’ position that the Supreme Court overreached, and fell over itself to adjudicate a case that it has no jurisdiction over, the unanimity with which the court gave the ruling has evoked again, feelings that the apex court judges conspired to do the bidding of the NPP. How in a case like this, all five justices will see things the same way and rule unanimously without any one of them dissenting has left many jaded.

The Speaker’s declaration which became necessary after the MPs occupying these seats filed nomination to contest for the same seats on different tickets rather than the tickets of the political parties they represent in Parliament, was constitutionally premised on Article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution.

Rt. Hon. Bagbin also cited a precedent in which his predecessor, Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye, had similarly walked out an MP for Fomena after he declared intent to contest as an independent parliamentary candidate in the 2020 election.

However, after the four seats were declared vacant by Bagbin, the Leader of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s MPs in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo Markins, ran to the Supreme Court to seek a reversal, because the vacancy declaration affects three NPP seats and only one seat of the opposition National Democratic Congress.

The legislators and the seats affected by the ruling are the NDC’s Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah of Amenfi Central constituency in the Western Region, Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah of Fomena in the Ashanti Region, Kojo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region, and NPP’s Cynthia Morrison of Agona West constituency.

Even though Asiamah is in Parliament as an independent MP, he is a member of the NPP who had fallen out with his party in the lead up to the 2020 elections but has since supported the NPP side in Parliament.

As it stands now, the vacancy declaration means a razor-thin majority that the NPP had had before the ruling, reverses and the NDC which hither to had 137 seats as against the NPP’s 137 plus the support of independent, Andrew Asiamah of Fomena, reverses.

The NPP realising that this reversal will mean their inability to get things passed in parliament then rushed to the court, which has always ruled in favour of the NPP in political matters, to intervene.

Majority Leader, Afenyo Markin, who is the Plaintiff in the case supposedly sought an interpretation of Article 97 in the suit he filed at the apex court over the Speaker’s ruling, to which a Supreme Court panel led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, ruled to stay the Speaker’s declaration pending a full determination of the case

Politics

NPA Boss in Dubious Last Minute Mass Shake Up

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2024

admin

The outgoing Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mustapha Abdul Hamid, has given approval for a series of mass recruitments within the Authority despite being on the verge of leaving his position.

On the 11th of December, 2024, Abdul Hamid circulated a confidential memo labeled “Transfers, Movements, Appointments, and Upgrades” to both Management and staff, detailing the controversial recruitments and redeployments.

“As a follow-up to the memorandum dated 20th November, 2024, outlining measures to enhance the Authority’s efficiency in addressing the needs of internal and external stakeholders, the following transfers, movements, appointments, and upgrades will come into effect on the specified dates,” stated the memo.

The confidential memo contained a list of 49 names earmarked for recruitment, transfers, and appointments.

These individuals are purportedly affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP), raising concerns that Mustapha Hamid is filling the NPA with political allies.

Noteworthy is the trend of widespread recruitments occurring across various Ministries, departments, and agencies at the behest and coordination of outgoing officials from the Akufo-Addo administration.

Accompanying these actions are substantial payments being processed by the government, indicating what seems to be a final phase of plunder and subversion following the NPP’s defeat in the December 7, 2024, elections.

The incoming Mahama administration has pledged to reverse these appointments and financial transactions.

A statement released by the transition team and signed by spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu made it clear that the eleventh-hour appointments will be invalidated.

“To be clear, all public officials are strongly advised to resist any attempts by outgoing political figures to participate in these activities as there may be serious repercussions once the new government assumes office,” read part of the statement.

However, it has come to light that the last-minute appointments are being retroactively dated in a bid to circumvent the incoming administration set to assume power on January 7, 2025

Politics

Cyber Capo’s Torture ‘Chamber’ Uncovered

The Shocking Story of Kidnapping and Human Rights Abuse

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2024

admin

The New Republic Newspaper has discovered a secretive dungeon hidden within the Osu suburb of Accra has been unearthed. Operatives of the clandestine National Signal Bureau are the masterminds behind this covert facility, utilising it to unlawfully detain their victims.

The Bureau, helmed by Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahen, stands accused of orchestrating a labyrinthine web of illegal activities, including the abduction of unsuspecting individuals under the cloak of darkness.

Adu-Boahene, recently embroiled in the suspected kidnapping of Sylvia, a manager at Emirates Airlines in Ghana, is described as a ruthless figure known to act with impunity.

Under the veil of secrecy, the Bureau’s rogue cabal, answerable solely to Director-General Adu Boahene himself, has brazenly flouted legal protocols by conducting unauthorized arrests and detentions.

Effort made by TNR to ascertain official position of the Signal Bureau on the shocking revelation has proven futile.

Journalists, political dissidents, and those deemed as adversaries to the Akufo-Addo government have reportedly fallen victim to the Bureau’s shadowy operations.

Within the confines of this clandestine dungeon, shuttered away from public scrutiny, detainees face unspeakable conditions at the hands of a formidable trio of rogue operatives.

Beset by state-of-the-art surveillance equipment procured from abroad, this cabal led by Ben Ansah, a notorious figure within the Bureau, operates with an air of superiority and divine authority.

The menacing presence of Henry Osei Tutu and Simon Kansonk further solidifies this rogue faction as a fearsome force within the Bureau.

The Bureau’s actions stand in stark contrast to its official mandate, which expressly prohibits the arrest and detention of individuals.

The brazen abuse of power by these rogue elements, operating stealthily within the National Signal Bureau, paints a troubling picture of unchecked authority and flagrant disregard for due process.

Allegations of past abuses by rogue National Security personnel underscore a pattern of misconduct and abuse which has fueled concerns over the wanton misuse of power within the security apparatus.

Security analysts have linked these troubling events to a renegade faction spearheaded by Henry Osei-Tutu and Benjamin Ansah, both key figures implicated in various illicit schemes, including abductions and staged robberies.

In the shadows of this covert operation lay disturbing accounts of prominent figures falling prey to these unlawful practices.

The unlawful detention of social media personality Albert Nat Hyde, known as Bongo Ideas, and the harrowing ordeal faced by Sylvia Patience Baah, the Emirates Manager, paint a grim portrait of state-sponsored intimidation and coercion.

As the sordid details of these illicit activities come to light, questions loom over the complicity of higher authorities within the National Security apparatus.

The spectre of abuse of power and the erosion of civil liberties cast a long shadow over the operations of the National Signal Bureau, shrouded in secrecy and intrigue.

Politics

AG Dumps Party Attorney’s in Accra

…in a ploy to give them juicy positions ahead of inauguration

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2024

admin

The Attorney General’s Department is embroiled in a burgeoning scandal following revelations of a recruitment and posting system apparently skewed in favor of Accra, rendering regional offices incapacitated and ineffective.

Insiders have blown the whistle on startling irregularities within the department: individuals who fell short of passing marks are reportedly being hired under dubious circumstances.

Additionally, employees initially designated for regions such as the Northern and Upper areas have allegedly manipulated the system to avoid their postings, opting to remain in the bustling capital instead.

Accra’s office, bursting at the seams, is now teeming with personnel, while crucial regional offices, essential for dispending justice nationwide, are left deficient in staff. For instance, in Bolgatanga, new recruits are reportedly being selected without consideration for their capacity—or even willingness—to relocate.

Numerous loopholes and clandestine arrangements have enabled many to evade their regional duties, exacerbating the disparity.

The department’s centralized recruitment mechanism has evolved into a looming crisis, perpetuating a climate of preferential treatment towards the capital at the expense of the regions it is obligated to serve.

Justice dispensation in rural areas is grinding to a halt, accentuating a stark dichotomy between Accra and the rest of the country.

Detractors argue that this transcends mere recruitment blunders—it signifies a disloyalty to Ghanaians residing outside Accra.

In underserved regions, residents now encounter extensive delays in accessing legal services, as regional offices operate with meagre workforce, while Accra swells with surplus personnel.

The New Republic has uncovered that regional recruitment protocols, designed to prioritize proximity and commitment to postings, are openly flouted.

With unbridled authority concentrated in the capital, the current centralized system effectively ensures that recruits will fiercely resist relocation, further consolidating the imbalance.

Experts and civil society organizations are advocating for comprehensive reforms to eradicate the corruption and reinstate public faith in the Attorney General’s Department.

Proposed solutions include: Regionalized Recruitment: Delegate hiring authority to the regions to cater to their specific requirements. Mandatory Service: Enforce a minimum three-year tenure in assigned regions before transfer requests are entertained.

Transparency Audits: Regularly investigate postings and reassignments to curb underhanded dealings. Relocation Verification: Impose stringent requirements for proving readiness to relocate for regional duties.

Incentivised Service: Introduce appealing bonuses and prospects for career advancement for employees serving in rural areas.

This scandal lays bare the entrenched dysfunction that has placed hinterland Ghanaians at the mercy of an unequal justice delivery system.

The Attorney General’s Department must take decisive and immediate steps to rectify this crisis. Justice is not a privilege confined to the capital—it is the entitlement of every Ghanaian. The clock is ticking, and the nation is observant.