The Minority in Parliament has questioned the priority being given to the vetting of three Supreme Court nominees during the ongoing emergency recall of Parliament, arguing that two matters it considers genuine national emergencies remain unattended.

The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said Parliament was rushing to vet the three nominees within the limited period while its motion seeking answers over $1.7 billion in alleged losses involving the GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana remained untouched.

“This country is still waiting for answers on $1.7 billion in losses connected to GoldBod and Bank of Ghana,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.

He said the amount, equivalent to about GH¢22 billion, represented public funds and therefore required urgent parliamentary scrutiny.

“That is public money. That is the nation’s money,” he stressed.

According to him, losses of that magnitude could threaten Ghana’s fiscal health, the strength of the cedi and confidence in the country’s banking system.

“If anything deserves the word emergency, it is a hazard of that size to our national purse,” he argued.

The Minority Leader also cited the recent nationwide power outages as another matter that should have attracted Parliament’s urgent attention.

He said the power crisis had placed critical national services at risk including hospitals, security installations and water systems.

“Those are emergencies in the truest sense of the word. A threat to our economy measured in billions of cedis. A threat to our security, measured in days without power, and in lives placed at risk,” he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin acknowledged the Speaker’s decision to admit the Minority’s motion on the alleged financial losses for consideration but expressed reservations about the decision not to allow it to be moved during the emergency sitting.

“We commend him for that patriotic stance, but we must place something on record today. Honestly and respectfully, the Speaker has, in his own wisdom, decided not to allow the motion to be moved during this special sitting. We have very serious reservations about that,” he said.

He said the Minority would respect the Speaker’s decision to defer consideration of the motion until Parliament resumes regular business but questioned why the Majority was simultaneously seeking to fast-track the vetting of the Supreme Court nominees.

“We want our motion to wait; they are in a haste to vet ministers,” he said, adding that the Minority could not accept what it described as a politically convenient approach to parliamentary business.

Mr Afenyo-Markin subsequently appealed to professional bodies, civil society organisations, religious leaders and traditional authorities to scrutinise the proposed timetable for the vetting of the nominees.

He specifically challenged the Ghana Bar Association, retired judges and the Judicial Service to speak on whether three days would be sufficient for such an important constitutional exercise.

“Tell the country whether three days is enough to vet three Supreme Court justices without putting out a public notice to allow the public to participate through public memoranda,” he said.

The Minority Leader maintained that the issue was not about the Majority versus the Minority but about whether Ghana’s highest court deserved a more thorough appointment process.

“This is whether we still believe our highest court deserves more care than 96 hours can give it,” he said.

He also accused the Majority of attempting to use its numerical strength to pressure the Appointments Committee into completing its work within a compressed timeframe.

“Committees of Parliament have enormous responsibilities. They serve at the forefront in the performance of the functions of Parliament. That is why it is said that Parliament is as strong as its committees make it,” he said.

He insisted that the Appointments Committee must be allowed sufficient time to perform its constitutional duties.

“This must be thorough, and it requires a thorough job,” he stressed.

Mr Afenyo-Markin further appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to engage his parliamentary caucus and ensure that the vetting process is not rushed.

“It is your nomination. Everything they do today stands for or against your legacy,” he told the President.

He clarified that the Minority was not opposed to the nominees themselves but was concerned about the process being adopted.

“We are not against the nominees. We are not against the decision by you to nominate justices to the Supreme Court,” he said.

He warned that should the Majority proceed with the vetting despite the Minority’s objections, the matter would not end with the emergency sitting.

“If this goes ahead regardless, we will not treat it as an end of the matter,” he cautioned.

“Every objection we raise this week goes into the permanent record of this House,” he added.

Mr Afenyo-Markin concluded by urging Ghanaians to join the Minority in demanding what he described as a more measured and transparent parliamentary process.

“We did not choose this fight. It was brought to the doorstep of this Parliament…by an unreasonable Majority that does not want to reason with us, but to go with their super majority and act out of political convenience,” he said.

The Minority is therefore demanding that Parliament strike what it considers a fair balance between the vetting of the nominees and the consideration of the financial and power-sector matters it has identified as urgent national concerns.