The National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Mahama has announced that he will revive the constitutional review processes if he is elected president in the 2024 election.
During a media encounter on Sunday, Mr Mahama noted one of the key aspects of the review will target the number of justices on the Supreme Court bench.
The former President indicated there will be a public engagement on whether or not to reduce the current number of 15 justices.
“We will resurrect the constitutional review process when I become president and when we do that we will put it to the Ghanaian people whether we should retain the 15, whether we should reduce it, or whether we should increase it. I don’t think that it should be the Chief Justice saying that we should increase and cap at 15,” he said.
Mr Mahama was reacting to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s recent request for the nomination of five justices to the Apex Court.
The NDC, on Thursday, July 4, asserted that President Akufo-Addo and the Chief Justice are colluding to shield current government officials from accountability after their term ends.
The party further claimed that, the Judicial Council unanimously resisted efforts to elevate five judges to the Supreme Court, only to be overridden by the Chief Justice and President covertly.
In justification, Chief Justice Torkornoo said the huge number of cases at the Supreme Court has informed her request for additional judges.
But Mr Mahama is of the view that it should not be the Chief Justice’s role to decide on increasing the number and capping it at 15.
He stated it is the president who makes such recommendations based on the advice of the Judicial Council, before forwarding the names to Parliament for approval.
“I can’t understand why the Chief Justice will be the one recommending which judges to appoint. The constitution is clear that it is the president who appoints judges with the advice of the judicial council and so the initiative to appoint judges must come from the president and be submitted to the judicial council, he brings it back with advice and the president then forwards to Parliament, that is the procedure.
“It is very rare that this time the recommendation comes from the Chief Justice to the president. Even capping the number of judges, the constitutional review committee recommended that we cap Supreme Court judges at 15, so the issue for capping the Supreme Court judges is not for the Chief Justice to say,” he stated.
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