Supreme Court Is The FINAL Arbiter On Constitutional Matters - Kabila Replies Pratt

Managing Editor of the National Forum Newspaper, James Kwabena Bomfeh, has raised counter arguments against comments by some Ghanaians that sought to suggest the Supreme Court isn't the final arbiter on issues of constitutionality.

Mr Bomfeh noted that Article 2 makes it emphatically clear that the Apex Court is the "body that is clothed with the power to make final determination on constitutional matters and this cannot be in dispute".

Seasoned Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., had on the Tuesday edition of the "Kokrokoo" Morning Show dismissed claims that the Supreme Court is the final authority when it comes to legal issues.

He emphasized that the, ''Supreme Court has never been or will never be the final authority on anything including the law. The Supreme Court exercises the power of the people. The Supreme Court acts in the name of the people. We have apportioned our sovereignty to the Supreme Court. So, ultimately, it is the people of Ghana who are the supreme-authority''.

Mr. Pratt further argued that, "the constitution itself, it has provisions for amendment. Am I lying? So, at any time, the people of Ghana can decide to amend the constitution. Indeed, the people of Ghana, they have a right to abolish the Supreme Court [yes] and set up something in its place. The Supreme Court, as currently constituted, is a constitutional creature; so, if you change the constitution, you can change the provisions on the establishment of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court will become a new creature".

He also averred that the "Supreme Court is the final authority and so on, [it] is not true. It cannot be true at least at the level of theory because they are acting in our name''.

But James Kwabena Bomfeh, nicknamed 'Kabila', who is a Consultant at KN & Associates - a Human Resource Management and Legal Services firm - discussing the issue on Peace FM's Wednesday edition of ''Kokrokoo'', directed Ghanaians to read Article 2 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana to establish his point.

According to him, "The constitution remains our standard bearer and nobody is above this constitution . . . The Article 1 indicates that the sovereignty of Ghana resides in the people of Ghana in whose name and for whose welfare the powers of government are to be exercised in the manner and within the limit laid in this constitution. It's also established in Article 2 (clause 2), in fact the clause 1, that if someone doesn't understand something about our constitution or how our laws work, the person should send it to the Supreme Court. This thing automatically makes the Supreme Court the final authority on any misunderstanding in terms of law".

"Because we work with laws in this country, I have every right to say that this constitution is a finality and if the Supreme Court make pronouncements on this which is a finality, then the Supreme Court remains the final arbiter," Kabila concluded as he sought to offer the public and Mr. Pratt education on the absolute role of the Apex Court.