Former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called on President John Dramani Mahama to withhold assent to the recently passed Tribunals Bill, 2026, arguing that reforms to Ghana's justice system should be founded on broad national consensus rather than the government's parliamentary majority.

In a public address to Ghanaians on Sunday, July 17, Dr Bawumia described the Bill as one with the potential to reshape the country's justice delivery system, public confidence in the judiciary and the future of Ghana's democracy.

"Your government commands one of the largest majorities in the history of the Fourth Republic. With such numbers, Parliament can pass almost any Bill it wishes. Not everything that can be passed should be passed. The larger the majority, the greater the duty of restraint.

"History will not ask how many votes a law received. It will ask whether the law reflected the best desires of a broad section of Ghanaian society."

Dr Bawumia therefore called on President Mahama to withhold assent to the Bill and convene a national dialogue involving the Ghana Bar Association, other legal professional bodies, organised labour, civil society organisations, political parties and the Judiciary.

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"Justice belongs to no government and no party. It belongs to the Ghanaian people, and a law that reshapes the architecture of justice should rest on national consensus, not on a headcount," he stated.

Dr Bawumia noted that although Parliament passed the Bill last week after waiving the mandatory one-day interval between the consideration stage and the third reading, concerns raised by the Minority and organised labour were ignored.

He cited the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which has called for the withdrawal of the Bill, warning that in its current form it could become "a potent tool for weaponising justice delivery."

"Those are the words of Ghanaian workers, not of any political party," he stressed, insisting that his appeal was not politically motivated.