The Supreme Court ruled Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin’s legal team’s challenge to Justice Yao Gaewu’s inclusion on the panel in the lawsuit contesting the Speaker’s decision about four open parliamentary seats to be “misconceived.”
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, who is in charge of the bench, dismissed the idea that Justice Gaewu’s purported membership in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would affect his objectivity and underlined that the case is a constitutional one rather than a political party one.
On Wednesday, October 30, the Chief Justice temporarily halted proceedings to give the issue some thought before returning to deny the application after hearing Speaker Bagbin’s lawyer Thaddeus Sory’s argument.
She decided that Justice Gaewu will continue to serve on the panel.
Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame filed a supplementary application with the court asking that the Speaker’s affidavit’s paragraphs 21 and 49 be removed, claiming that they were “scandalous” and unrelated to the matter.
This objection would be taken into account in the final ruling, Chief Justice Torkonoo stated.
During the proceedings, Joe Ghartey, who was representing Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the majority leader of the NPP, was also prohibited from making a preliminary statement. Ghartey was chastised by the court for violating protocol by permitting junior counsel to introduce the defense.
The hearing will go on as the court considers arguments questioning the validity of the Speaker’s ruling on the four contested parliamentary seats.
