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General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, says the NDC, as a party, strongly backs the decision by the Minority to boycott the vetting of Justice Anin-Yeboah who has been nominated as Chief Justice pending parliamentary approval.

According to him, though they do not have any problem with the person of Justice Anin-Yeboah, the President's nominee, they are however worried about the processes.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' program, he explained that it looks like the majority in Parliament wants to Lord themselves over the minority.

"This is a process that has been in existence during my days in Parliament so I am surprised the majority in Parliament will want to thwart the processes," he said.

"From the way the majority is behaving, it looks like they will want to hide something from us probably about the person of the Chief Justice, but they cannot hide anything from us....We fully support the decision of the minority to boycott the vetting if they (Majority) do not follow due processes," Mr Asiedu Nketia added.

Minority's Boycott

The Minority in Parliament says it will not take part in the scheduled vetting of the Chief Justice nominee on Saturday, December 21, 2019.

A statement from the NDC leader in the House, Haruna Iddrisu accused the Chairman of the Appointment’s Committee, First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu of unilaterally setting the date, against standard practice. They further accuse Hon Osei Owusu of demonstrating bad faith by rushing to fix a date for the vetting when a consensus has not been reached.

Rubber Stamp Tendecies

Mr. Iddrisu said their side of the House has nothing against the nominee, Justice of the Supreme Court, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, but they would hold dear the “principle of a strong, independent and diligent Parliament devoid of rubber stamp tendencies.”

Explaining their position, the Tamale North MP said the date set for the vetting is too short and does not give the public enough time to submit memoranda on the nominee.

Leadership of Minority Liars

But Mr Osei Owusu shot back, describing the leaders of the Minority as liars.

According to him, he requested a meeting on the day of the announcement.

"I specifically invited the leaders. I didn't have to, all i needed was a quorum but i specifically requested the leaders of the Minority to be present. At the meeting, i put forward a proposal that in view of the time left for Parliamemnt to adjourn (December 24, 2019). let us advertise from Thursday after, and do the vetting on Friday so that our report would be ready for the plenary to consider on the Saturday, December 21st. After long discussions, it was suggested by the Minority Leader that let's do a full one week and do the vetting on 21st. Then Parliament extend its sitting from 21st to 23rd; that was the conclusion we agreed to and upon which the meeting adjourned," he disclosed.


Watch interview below