The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has asked Justice Ernest Gaewu, a justice of the Supreme Court empanelled on the hearing of the vacant seats controversy, to recuse himself because he is a member of the NPP.
According to the Speaker, Justice Gaewu once contested as parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta region.
Counsel for the Speaker, Thaddeus Sory, during proceedings in court Wednesday, October 30, 2024, said Justice Gaewu’s membership as an NPP and sitting as a judge on a matter seeking the interest of the party may compromise his judgement.
“He was known to be associated with New Patriotic Party (NPP) and in fact he was a parliamentary candidate in one of their constituencies in the Volta Region,” Thaddeus Sory argued.
The Speaker asked his lawyers to write to the Supreme Court to set aside its earlier ruling on the ex parte motion that stayed the ruling of the Speaker on the declaration of the seats vacant. The court has since taken a recess for a ruling on the matter.
The matter in question involves the declaration of some seats vacant in Parliament following the switching of allegiance by the MPs in the subsequent Parliament.
Article 97(g)(h) debars persons seeking to contest on the ticket of a different political party or switches allegiance to continue doing business with that caucus, thereby rendering their seats vacant.
After a ruling by the Speaker on the matter Thursday, October 17, 2024, the then Majority caucus had a reduction in its numbers and has therefore become a Minority whilst the Minority caucus has become the Majority.
However, Leader of the NPP caucus who prior to the ruling was the Majority, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, sent the matter to the Supreme Court for an interpretation of the Article 97.
The court has ruled for a stay of the Speaker’s ruling until the substantive matter is determined, after Afenyo-Markin had filed for an ex parte motion on the declaration of the seats vacant.
Sitting was boycotted by the NPP caucus in the House’s subsequent sitting on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, where the Speaker, for lack of quorum adjourned Parliament indefinitely.
Vacant seats controversy: Bagbin’s lawyers apply to Supreme Court to rescind its ruling
