A political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, has criticised the Minority in Parliament’s conduct on the Appointments Committee during the vetting of the Chief Justice nominee, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
According to Prof. Gyampo, the Minority needs to understand that it can’t always have its way in the House, rather than assuming the position that it should be their way or they walk out.
His comments follow the Minority’s walkout at the Appointments Committee during the vetting of the Chief Justice nominee, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie on Monday, November 10, 2025.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, the political scientist, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA), said it was time the Minority humbled themselves, since their acts betray the very trust their constituents entrusted in them.
“The majority must allow the minority to function, but the minority must be very humble in knowing they can only have their say. The practice of throwing weightless weight about and insisting that it is either their way or they walk out, points to a fundamentally flawed understanding of the current role assigned to the minority by the General Will expressed by the sovereign people of Ghana in the last election,” he posted.
Chief Justice nominee, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie’s encounter with the Appointments Committee on Monday descended into heated partisan exchanges, culminating in a full walkout by the Minority members of the Committee.
The caucus, led by Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, announced their decision to boycott the process, insisting that the nomination itself was illegitimate because of unresolved legal challenges relating to the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
“We are registering that we reject the nomination, and the record should reflect that the report of the vetting be a Majority report,” Afenyo-Markin declared before exiting the Committee room.
According to the Minority, multiple cases currently before the Supreme Court, High Court, and ECOWAS Court make it improper for Parliament to proceed with the consideration of a new Chief Justice. They argue that continuing the process undermines judicial independence and prejudges matters that are still under adjudication.
Prior to the walkout, there was a tense confrontation between the two leaders in Parliament.
The disagreement came about when the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, objected to Afenyo-Markin’s attempt to make opening remarks before the vetting session. Ayariga maintained that issues concerning the nomination had already been debated in Parliament, and further commentary was unnecessary.
Afenyo-Markin had described Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as a “disputed Chief Justice nominee,” a characterisation Ayariga rejected outright. The Majority Leader insisted the remark was inappropriate for a vetting session and demanded an apology and retraction, saying the committee was “not a courtroom.”
In response, Afenyo-Markin accused the Majority Leader of trying to muzzle dissenting views and diminish the Minority’s role in the constitutional process. He reiterated concerns that Justice Torkornoo’s removal was shrouded in “opaque” circumstances — a comment that again drew objections from Ayariga.
