Drama unfolded in Parliament during the vetting of the Chief Justice-designate on Friday when some Supreme Court judges, who had throng Parliament to offer moral support to the Sophia Akuffo, descended heavily on a cameraman from the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) for blocking their view with his huge and outmoded video camera.
The Supreme Court judges, who were furious at the sight of the huge video camera, did not understand why the GBC cameraman would place the huge tripod with the camera mounted on it right in front of them and obstruct their view.
Justices S.N. Gbadegbe and Paul Baffoe Bonnie asked the cameraman to move the camera to another place, as they did not come to watch him.
The GBC cameraman, Isaac Mbiah, popularly called Osofo, told the justices that he has been positioned there to capture the leadership of the committee and also the audience at the vetting, but the judges still insisted that he moved the camera away.
“At this time of technological advancement, look at the camera you are using. This is too big and outmoded,” one of the judges was heard saying.
In the course of the confrontation, a colleague journalist came to the rescue of the cameraman, explaining to the judges that the position of the camera could not be changed.
The colleague journalist, Simon Agianab, told the judges to accommodate the cameraman because he was not to blame for the use of such big camera by the institution.
“My Lords, you must also understand GBC because it is the oldest broadcaster, having broadcast for over 70 years so the cameras are as old as the station itself,” the colleague journalist said
Even though the explanation by the other journalist did not go down well with them, they said GBC should move along with technological advancement rather than working with such outmoded cameras.
At the beginning of the vetting, the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu unreservedly apologised to the acting Chief Justice, Justice William Atuguba, who was present at the event, for putting out information that he would be retiring in a few days’ time.
“I am very sorry for that misinformation and the inconvenience it has caused. I am told that you would rather be tiring somewhere next year, please accept my apology.”
The acting Chief Justice sat quietly throughout the vetting of the new Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo who acknowledged his presence and immense support she had received from him on the Supreme Court bench since they were both appointed at the same time by the former President Jerry John Rawlings.
According to the Chief Justice-designate, four of them were appointed at the same time to the Supreme Court but two are deceased and so she sees Justice Atuguba as her twin brother.
According to Sophia Akuffo, the two were also classmates at the university.
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