Mahamudu Bawumia/New Patriotic Party (NPP)/ Asylum Down, Accra (28 August 2025)
Former Vice President and 2028 NPP flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on President John Mahama not to sign the Tribunals Bill, 2026 into law, warning that it risks undermining confidence in the judiciary and Ghana’s democracy.
Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia
In a national address on Sunday (19 July), Bawumia said the bill, passed by Parliament last week after the mandatory one-day interval between consideration and third reading was waived, was rushed through despite objections from the Minority and organised labour.
“My call is therefore simple and constructive. Withhold your assent. Convene genuine national engagement,” Bawumia said, addressing the President directly. “The pen is in your hand. Use it, not to sign this Bill, but to write an invitation to the nation.”
“A potent tool for weaponising justice”
Bawumia said the Tribunals Bill has the “potential to reshape our justice delivery system, confidence in our judiciary and the future of our democracy altogether.”
He cited the Trades Union Congress, TUC, which has called for the bill to be withdrawn, warning it “could become a potent tool for weaponising justice delivery.”
Parliament passed the bill despite loud public objections from labour groups, with the Minority’s objections voted down. The bill will now be transmitted to the President for assent.
Bawumia argued that the rush to legislate contradicts the work of the government’s own Constitution Review Committee, which reported in December 2025. That committee recommended removing Regional Tribunals from the Constitution because the High Court has long carried their caseload.
“Yet the report has not been published. Before the nation has even read it, Parliament has rushed through and legislated in the opposite direction,” he said. “Mr. President, publish the report first.”
Other concerns
The former Vice President raised alarm over a key provision allowing panels that include persons who are not lawyers to sit in judgment over criminal matters.
“Ghanaians remember tribunals, and we remember what was done in their name,” he said, in reference to Ghana’s past experience with tribunal courts.
He said court congestion is a real problem, but the solution is to “strengthen the courts: more judges, more courtrooms and digitised processes. It is not to build a second system of justice beside the one the Constitution already gives us.”
Bawumia also cautioned against using the government’s large parliamentary majority to push through controversial legislation.
“With such numbers, Parliament can pass almost any bill it wishes. Not everything that can be passed should be passed. The larger the majority, the greater the duty of restraint,” he said.
Call for national dialogue
Bawumia proposed that instead of signing the bill, President Mahama should convene stakeholders including the Ghana Bar Association, organised labour, civil society, political parties, and the Judiciary itself.
“Justice belongs to no government and no party. It belongs to the Ghanaian people, and a law that reshapes the architecture of justice should rest on national consensus, not on a headcount,” he said.
He urged the President to use his powers under Articles 90 and 106 of the 1992 Constitution to initiate broader consultations through the Council of State.
The Presidency has not yet commented on whether President Mahama will assent to the bill.Source:Jonathan Ofori
