Akufo-Addo nominates NPP’s 2016 Parliamentary candidate to Supreme Court

Details are  emerging that Akufo Addo has nominated NPP’s 2016 Parliamentary candidate to the Supreme Court.

That one  of the newly nominated Justices of the Supreme Court by President Akufo-Addo is a known card-bearing member of the New Patriotic Party and the Parliamentary candidate for Ho Central in the 2016 elections.

This particular nominee is Justice Ernest Gaewu who has been captured in a 2016 poster as a candidate for the Ho central constituency seat on the ticket of the NPP.

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The Supreme court nominee however lost the election polling only 6, 031 of the total votes as compared to winner Benjamin Kpodo who polled 47, 330 votes.

The other nominees  who have been appointed to the Apex court are Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, Justice George Kingsley Koomsom, and Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu (all from the Court of Appeal), while Justice Yao Gaewu  who is under public scrutiny was appointed from the High Court.

The President announced the nominations of the Justices in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament.

The  Speaker indicated that the nominations were made to fill up upcoming vacancies on the Supreme Court bench.

“As a result of pending and projected vacancies at the Supreme Court this year, the Judicial Council advised me on 4th July 2022 by letter under the hand of its Chairperson, Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah of the suitabilities of my nominations for appointment to the Court of these persons in accordance with Article 144 (2) of the constitution.” Speaker Bagbin read the letter addressed to him by the President to lawmakers.

The nomination of Justice Gaewu  in particular has caused huge discussions on Social Media. Many have argue that the nomination of the Justice who is card bearing member of the ruling party( at least from the posters) does speak well of his neutrality and independence as expected of the judiciary.

The nominee Ernest Yao Gaewu, was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2020 by President Akufo-Addo. He was

the Managing Partner at Mawulorm Chambers, the prestigious Ho Based Law firm established by Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse, a Supreme Court Judge, before his appointment.

Gaewu who was the  former secretary of the Volta regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), began his practice under the guidance of Justice Dotse in Ho. Thiw was after he was called to the Bar in the year 2000.