A heated exchange erupted in Ghana’s Parliament on Tuesday during the vetting of Supreme Court Justice nominee Hafisata Amaleboba, as Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin clashed with Appointments Committee Chairman Bernard Ahiafor over a line of questioning.
The confrontation was sparked when Mr Afenyo-Markin pressed Justice Amaleboba to clarify whether President John Mahama’s imposition of financial penalties on ministers who failed to declare their assets had infringed on the constitutional mandate of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Justice Amaleboba maintained that she did not see the President’s actions as a usurpation of CHRAJ’s powers, arguing that administrative fines did not conflict with the Commission’s constitutional role.
Unconvinced, Mr Afenyo-Markin rephrased the question in a bid to highlight potential constitutional concerns. However, Chairman Ahiafor ruled that the matter had been adequately addressed and directed the Minority Leader to proceed to a new question.
This prompted a fiery response from Mr Afenyo-Markin, who accused the Chairman of obstructing the vetting process.
“Please, Chairman, if you want to find a way to stop this vetting, I will yield to you. Stop what you are doing. The whole country is watching you,” he said, warning that the move could set a troubling precedent.
“I’ve seen all this drama before. But whatever the precedent, whether in four years, 12 years or 20 years, it will come back to haunt this house. No problem.”
He continued: “If you are strategically planning that a Supreme Court nominee should not go through this process, so be it. But this question is not out of order.”
Despite the outburst, Mr Ahiafor stood firm, insisting that the committee had moved past the issue.
“The public is not only watching me – it is watching all of us, and the jury will be out,” he responded. “I’m a man with an indomitable spirit. I still rule that the question has been asked, and the nominee will not answer it again.”
Source:TheDotNews