Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the Majority side in Parliament of acting in bad faith during the vetting of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, President Mahama’s nominee for Chief Justice.

The heated exchange occurred after Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga objected to Afenyo-Markin’s description of the nominee as a “disputed nominee,” calling the remark inappropriate and politically charged.

Responding to the objection, Afenyo-Markin argued that the Majority was attempting to stifle legitimate parliamentary debate and accountability.

He maintained that the Minority had every right to express its reservations about the nomination, which he described as politically motivated.

“Chairman, the Majority Leader is clearly acting in bad faith, seeking to obstruct the peaceful process we have started and, as it were, use his numbers to intimidate,” he said during the session.

The Minority Leader further insisted that the vetting process was a civic duty, not a partisan contest, and that questioning the circumstances surrounding the nomination was within their constitutional mandate.

“The matters giving rise to this nomination are purely political, and every Ghanaian adult knows this,” he stated. “Instead of becoming a moment of national pride and institutional renewal, this vetting has turned into a test of whether the judiciary will remain independent or fall under executive and political control.”

The dispute stems from campaign claims made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2024 elections, alleging that the government would remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo and replace her — a development that has now materialised under the Mahama administration.