Justice Torkornoo To MPs: Review Ghana’s Law On Death Penalty

The Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has made it clear that Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, the Chief Justice Nominee, will not undergo a second vetting.

This decision comes after a rigorous vetting session in Parliament on Friday, May 26, where Minority MPs demanded another chance to scrutinize the Supreme Court judgment that resulted in the expulsion of James Gyakye Quayson from Parliament.

The Minority MPs argued that without access to the written reasons behind the court’s decision, they were unable to question the Chief Justice nominee adequately.

Unfortunately, the Committee’s meeting held today, Friday, May 26, ended inconclusively, with no consensus reached on recommending the nominee for approval by the House.

The Committee’s chairman, Mr. Osei-Owusu however indicated that the nominee will be approved by a majority decision because there is no need to defer the decision.

“It is our practice that, any time that we are done with a public hearing, the Committee sits and considers whether to recommend the person or not and so the conclusion we came to was that there is no consensus. You will recall that [Mahama] Ayariga made a statement that unless they get a copy of the case involving the Assin North MP, they will not support the nominee. They [Minority Caucus] came to the vetting with a position; do it for me, or I don’t. We went through the vetting, and we are satisfied that there is no basis for deferring the decision because you want to read the judgment. They also argued that because they have not read the judgment, they won’t support her, but it is a one-off event. We recommend her for approval by a majority decision,” the Chairman of the committee added.