Constitutional and human rights lawyer, Martin Kpebu has stated that the ongoing debacle around the declaration of four vacant seats in parliament is a political tussle and not a matter of constitutional crisis.

His assertion contradicts a position espoused by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo when she led a Supreme Court panel to refuse an application by the Speaker of Parliament to set aside the court’s earlier decision to suspend the Speaker’s declaration of the four vacant seats.

Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Thursday, October 31, 2024, Martin Kpebu described the case as “an NPP versus NDC case.”

He also raised questions over the impartiality of the bench, specifically on the empaneling of a judge with an association to the ruling New Patriotic Party, Justice Yao Gaewu, to sit on the case.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, rejected a motion by lawyers for the Speaker of Parliament to have Justice Gaewu recuse himself from a panel sitting on an application to set aside an earlier ruling of the apex court.

Addressing the court on Wednesday, Thaddeus Sory argued on behalf of the Speaker that Justice Gaewu’s position as a former parliamentary candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) places him in a position of conflict of interest in a case where the outcome may affect the NPP.

“He was known to be associated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and, in fact, he was a parliamentary candidate in one of their constituencies in the Volta Region,” the Speaker’s lawyer argued.

In response, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, who was chairing the presiding panel, ruled that the law does not prevent one from serving as a judge of the Supreme Court because of their affiliation with a political party.

She cited the approval of Parliament for a person nominated for the position of Supreme Court judge and noted that such approval bears testament to an individual’s competence to hear such cases.

The court thus dismissed the Speaker’s motion and subsequently dismissed his application to set aside the granting of an interlocutory injunction application by the Leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, which led to the court’s decision on October 18, 2024.

GA/KA


Watch the latest episode of Ballot Briefing below:





Watch the latest episode of Ballot Briefing below: