One of the judges who ruled in favour of Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin in the Supreme Court’s ruling on the 4 vacant seats in parliament, Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu fears the court’s decision make come back to bite them in the future.
According to him, it is highly probable the ruling will be reversed in the near future.
Justice Amadu Tanko sharing his view on the matter said, “I do not hasten to proclaim that I have apprehended with despair the majority’s conclusion in this suit, but I state, with utmost deference to the Hon. Chief Justice and the rest of my brethren in the majority, that not only do I fundamentally disagree with their conclusion, I, with all due respect, also find the decision an aberration to the established and accepted judicial position of this court which, with profound respect, I hope in no distant future the resultant usurpation of the constitutional prerogative of the High Court incidental to the majority decision will be reversed.”
His comments followed the court’s ruling, which was delivered on November 12, 2024, by a 5-2 majority. The court deemed the Speaker’s declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant to be unconstitutional.
Justice Amadu Tanko’s view is in sharp contrast to the ruling which addressed the interpretation of Article 97 of the Constitution, particularly clauses 1(g) and 1(h), which outline the conditions under which a Member of Parliament (MP) can lose their seat.
The majority opinion, which included Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo and Justices Mariama Owusu, Samuel Kwame Adibu-Aseidu, Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Yaw Darko Asare, sided with the arguments presented by the Majority Leader. They concluded that the MPs who had filed to contest the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections, either as independent candidates or under a different political party, had not vacated their seats as per the constitutional provisions.
