Vacant Seats Ruling: I hope Supreme Court’s decision is reversed in the future – Dissenting Justice Amadu Tanko

Justice Amadu Tanko was one of two justices who dissented in the ruling

Justice Amadu Tanko, one of the two justices of the Supreme Court who dissented in the 5-2 majority decision proclaiming a declaration of four seats by the Speaker as vacant as unconstitutional, is hopeful that the court’s decision will be reversed in the future.

In the court’s judgment released on Thursday, November 14, 2024, Justice Amadu, who expressed a varying opinion, said the majority decision was at variance with established legal principles.

“I do not hasten to proclaim that I have apprehended with despair the majority’s conclusion in this suit, but I state, with utmost deference to the Hon. Chief Justice and the rest of my brethren in the majority, that not only do I fundamentally disagree with their conclusion, I, with all due respect, also find the decision an aberration to the established and accepted judicial position of this court which, with profound respect, I hope in no distant future the resultant usurpation of the constitutional prerogative of the High Court incidental to the majority decision will be reversed,” he stated.

On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the Supreme Court, by a 5-2 majority decision, ruled that the Speaker’s declaration that some four MPs who had filed to contest the 2024 parliamentary election either as independent candidates or on a ticket different from the one they currently represent had vacated their seats was unconstitutional.

The majority decision was supported by Chief Justice Torkornoo, Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Samuel K. Asiedu, Justice Ernest Gaewu, and Justice Yaw Asare Darko.

Justices Avril Lovelace Johnson and Amadu Tanko dissented, raising concerns about jurisdiction.

The case centered on the interpretation of Article 97, clauses 1(g) and 1(h) of the Constitution, following the Speaker’s ruling regarding the seats of MPs who filed to contest the upcoming election on different tickets.

Majority Leader and MP for Effutu, Afenyo Markin, filed the case to challenge the Speaker’s decision, which affected the seats of Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadwo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).

Read the court’s full judgement below: