Kludze Approved As Supreme Court Judge

Parliament has by a majority decision approved the nomination of Professor A. Kodzo Paaku Kludze as a Justice of the Supreme Court. The Appointment Committee says it carefully examined the eligibility of the Professor for the appointment and found that he is truly an accomplished legal luminary and academician who exhibit deep knowledge of law and the 1992 constitution.

Prof. Paaku is a distinguished Professor of Law at the Rutgers University School of Law in the USA with a Ph.D from University of London. The chairman of the committee, Freddie Blay said the nominee demonstrated a high sense of patriotism and selflessness towards the promotion of education in his hometown - Gbi-Kpeme in the Hohoe District contrary to allegations levelled against him by some residents of the town. The people of Gbi-Kpeme had accused the Professor of returning aid meant for schools in the area to a US non-governmental organization.

The Minority leader, Alban Bagbin, however, opposed the appointment of the Professor on the grounds that he has just a year to go on retirement. He was of the view that the learned Professor would not make any impact on the Supreme Court and would only be a "bed of passage" and asked the members to vote against him on principle.

The Minority Leader also expressed disappointment with the sub-committee, for failing to make any findings on the allegations against Professor Paaku and for interviewing only four out of the 24 witnesses.

But Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (Rtd) said the nominee should be accepted and confirmed because a sub-committee set up to investigate allegations against him found that there were unmeritorious.

Later, the House, through secret voting, approved Professor Kludze by 88 votes for and 52 against.