Economic Advisor to the Vice President, Professor Sharif Khalid Mahmud, has described President John Dramani Mahama’s recent nomination of seven justices to the Supreme Court as a strategic effort to restore balance to the apex court.
Speaking on Channnel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday May 3, Prof Khalid said the move should be viewed in the broader historical context of appointments made by successive presidents, emphasising that it reflects a pattern of democratic recalibration rather than partisanship.
“In my own personal opinion, I label the President’s appointment of these noble judges or justices to the Supreme Court as a balancing act of our apex court,” Prof Khalid stated.
He further outlined the history of Supreme Court appointments under Ghana’s Fourth Republic, noting that each administration had made substantial contributions to the composition of the bench.
“He [Rawlings] appointed 10 justices of the Supreme Court. Then Kufuor took over between 2000 and 2008 and appointed 17 justices. After Kufuor’s 17, Mills did three in a four-year period, Mahama did four in a four-year period. Post that, we had Nana Akufo-Addo who did 15 in an eight-year period. Now this seven that Mahama has done will even give us how many — that is still 11.”
Prof Khalid’s remarks come amid debate over the politicization of judicial appointments and concerns about the independence of the judiciary.
However, he stressed that appointments by any administration should be seen as part of a broader institutional evolution aimed at maintaining the ideological and generational balance on the Supreme Court bench.
-citinewsroom
