The Minority Caucus in Parliament has made a request for the disclosure of the details regarding the judgement on James Gyakye Quayson, the former Assin North MP.
They have stipulated that these details must be made available by June 7th before they can proceed with voting on the president’s Chief Justice nominee, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Following the Supreme Court Justice’s vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, the Caucus refrained from casting a vote on the nominee.
Their decision was prompted by the absence of access to the complete judgement, which they believe is necessary to make an informed determination.
The Supreme Court in its recent ruling on the dual citizenship case before it directed Parliament to expunge the name of embattled Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson.
While the possibility of a second vetting session looms, the Committee’s chairman, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has announced that there will be no such session. However, the Minority Caucus remains resolute in their demand to review the entire judgement before reaching a conclusion.
The Minority Chief Whip in a press release indicated that the Minority expects the cooperation of the Majority in its request to bring closure to the vetting.
Below is the full release
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.
We successfully evaluated the nominee on all relevant criteria except the outstanding matter of James Gyakye Quayson which would enable us to come to a decision. We expect the reasoned Judgement of the court on this matter by 7 June, 2023 to finalise our decision
We have duly communicated our challenge to our colleagues on the Majority side and expect their cooperation.