Parliament approves Justices George Koomson, Ernest Gaewu as Supreme Court judges

Parliament has approved the nomination of Justice George Kingsley Koomson and Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu as Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made the nominations in July 2022 to fill up expected vacancies at the apex court.

The house unanimously adopted the consensual report from the Appointments Committee which was tasked with the vetting of the nominees.

After a secret vote on Friday, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Andrew Asiamah Amoako announced the results and declared the nominees approved.

The Minority side initially opposed the approval of the two nominees.

The caucus argued that Justice Gaewu was a parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) hence unfit to be on the apex court's bench.

Former Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak suggested that his approval will be “a bad reflection on the House. When you set a bad precedent, tomorrow it becomes the yardstick for others to make this same demand.”

With regard to Mr. George Koomson, the Minority insisted that he “just joined the Court of Appeal,” and that there were other competent and qualified justices that could have been elevated to the Supreme Court instead of him.