Kwesi Pratt has questioned the Minority’s characterisation of Supreme Court Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie as a “disputed nominee” during his vetting for the position of Chief Justice.
“When the Minority Leader refers to Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as a disputed nominee, what does that mean?” Pratt asked bluntly during an apperance on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana monitored by MyNewsGh.
He noted that the Minority attempted to clarify that the criticism was aimed at the process, not the nominee, but disagreed. “You said he was a disputed nominee. How is he disputed? You cannot now claim it was not an attack on him.”
Pratt criticised the speech delivered at the vetting hearing, describing it as poorly constructed.
“Very bad speech. Exceedingly bad. I was surprised because I saw many distinguished, sensible MPs there. Did you all approve that speech?”
He suggested that if the Minority believed the constitutional process for removing the Chief Justice was incomplete, the proper remedy was legal action, not a parliamentary boycott:
“If you think the President is acting ultra vires, the remedy is to go to court. A walkout does not overturn a constitutional process.”
Pratt also challenged the suggestion that the ongoing legal challenge by the former Chief Justice should halt the appointment process.
“There is nothing in that process that restrains the President from exercising his power to appoint a new Chief Justice,” he argued.
He concluded that the label of “disputed nominee” lacked constitutional grounding and risked undermining judicial independence.
