Dr. Kwaku Ansah Asare, former Director-General of the Ghana School of Law, has criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for what he describes as hypocrisy over their opposition to the recent nomination of seven justices to the Supreme Court by President John Dramani Mahama.
President Mahama, on April 30, 2025, nominated seven Court of Appeal judges to the apex court in accordance with Article 144(2) of the 1992 Constitution.
The nominees include Justices Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei, Gbiel Simon Suurbaareh, Senyo Dzamefe, Kweku Tawiah Ackah-Boafo, Philip Bright Mensah, Janpere Bartels-Kodwo, and Hafisata Ameleboba.
Upon clearance, the nominees will face parliamentary vetting and approval as required by law.
However, the move has drawn criticism from various quarters.
The Minority has questioned the nominations, alleging they are part of a clandestine agenda by the NDC and President Mahama to entrench power and potentially pursue an unconstitutional third term.
Responding to these concerns on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Dr. Ansah Asare defended the nominations, stating that the NPP had set the precedent during their time in power by mishandling judicial appointments.
He argued that the NPP lacks the moral high ground to criticize the current administration’s actions.
While he acknowledged the right of political parties to act as pressure groups, he emphasized that the current judicial nomination process under the Mahama administration appears more transparent and constitutional.
He said, “Now, if people demonstrate against that, it’s not going to solve the problem. At any rate, the NPP government handled the issue of appointment of justices onto the superior court poorly. There was a general underperformance as far as the appointment of Justices onto the superior court, high court, court party, and the Supreme Court are concerned. So it would lie ill in their mouth now and foul in their legs to take to the streets to demonstrate against something that they set in motion.”
“So I think that they are not behaving as mature politicians. If they were mature politicians, they would realize that what they are doing is not good. Be that as it may, we should also not forget that the NPP is a political party. It is a pressure group. And one of the tenets of a pressure group is to constantly or from time to time embark upon demonstrations to draw the attention of the public to certain issues occurring or happening in society. But on this occasion, I would say that what is happening now is 99 percent better than what happened during the administration of the NPP government. So this should be the last step.”
