The NDC flagbearer, John Mahana has pledged to revive the constitutional review process to set a cap on the number of Supreme Court justices if he is elected president again.

The 1992 Constitution currently specifies a minimum of nine justices on the Supreme Court bench and the Chief Justice, but it does not set an upper limit.

Addressing the media in Accra on Sunday night, July 7, former President Mahama stated his intention to let Ghanaians decide on the matter.

“We will resurrect the constitutional review process when I become president and when we do that we will put it to the Ghanaian people whether we should retain the 15, whether we should reduce it, or whether we should increase it,” Mahama said.

He expressed disagreement with Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s recommendation to the president to appoint five additional justices to the Supreme Court bench.

“I can’t understand why the Chief Justice will be the one recommending which judges to appoint,” Mahama remarked.

“The constitution is clear that it is the president who appoints judges with the advice of the judicial council and so the initiative to appoint judges must come from the president and be submitted to the judicial council, he brings it back with advice and the president then forwards to Parliament, that is the procedure.”

Mahama reiterated that the Chief Justice’s approach is unusual, emphasising that it should be the president who nominates judges based on the advice of the Judicial Council, before forwarding the names to Parliament for approval.

“Even capping the number of judges, the constitutional review committee recommended that we cap Supreme Court judges at 15, so the issue for capping the Supreme Court judges is not for the chief justice to say,” he added.

“I don’t think that it should be the chief justice saying that we should increase and cap at 15.”

Mahama’s comments highlight his commitment to constitutional reform and the importance of adhering to established procedures for judicial appointments.