Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin officially referred two ministerial nominees and three Supreme Court Justice nominees to the Appointments Committee for vetting on Monday, August 24, 2026, during the emergency five-day sitting he recalled Parliament to hold.
Speaker Bagbin urged the committee to expedite its work to fit the compressed one-week schedule, a timeline that now covers five nominations rather than the two ministerial appointments that had appeared to be the recall’s primary trigger when the Speaker first issued his notice on August 12.
That the docket grew to include three judicial nominees changes the character of this week’s sitting considerably, turning what looked like a narrow cabinet-filling exercise into one of the more consequential vetting weeks Parliament has held this term.
The Ministerial Nominees
The Speaker referred Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, nominated as Minister-designate for Environment, Science and Technology, and Mahama Ayariga, nominated as Minister-designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.
Both nominations, submitted by President John Dramani Mahama on August 7 under Article 78(1) of the Constitution, close a ministerial vacancy that has run since the August 2025 helicopter crash that killed the substantive ministers holding both portfolios. Neither nominee can assume office until the committee has vetted them and the full House has voted.
Three Supreme Court Justices Added to the Docket
The referral also covers three nominees for the Supreme Court bench: Justice Sophia Bernasko-Essah, a sitting Justice of the Court of Appeal; Justice Edward Amoako Asante, a Court of Appeal Justice and former President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice; and Anthony Forson Jr, a private legal practitioner and former President of the Ghana Bar Association.
The Council of State has already reviewed the nominations and declared all three candidates qualified and suitable, a step that precedes but does not substitute for parliamentary vetting.
Judicial nominations of this kind typically move through the Appointments Committee over a longer window, given the scrutiny superior court appointments usually attract, which makes the five-day timetable Speaker Bagbin has set an unusually tight one for a bench-level referral.
The committee must vet all three nominees and report back to plenary before the House rises again on Friday.
Agalga’s Leadership Role Still “Acting”
Speaker Bagbin also read a communication designating Hon. James Agalga as Acting Majority Leader, but clarified that the appointment remains provisional.
He explained that a procedural communication error was behind the acting designation, and stressed a point of parliamentary practice: authority to switch Majority Leaders in the House rests with the leadership caucuses themselves, not with the Presidency, however the initial nomination originated.
Hon. Agalga had confirmed on August 8 that he would take over the role once Mahama Ayariga’s nomination proceeded through Parliament, positioning him to inherit the substantive leadership only after his caucus formally completes the switch, a step distinct from and following the referral process now underway.
A Legislative Agenda Beyond the Nominations
The emergency sitting’s business extends past the five vetting referrals. Parliament is also slated to consider the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Amendment Bill during the same compressed session, adding a substantive piece of financial sector legislation to a week already carrying two ministerial and three judicial nominations.
The bill’s inclusion suggests the Speaker’s original description of the recall’s purpose, urgent parliamentary business, understated how much the House intended to pack into five sitting days. The scope of Monday’s referrals reshapes what had initially looked like a narrower recall focused on filling two cabinet vacancies.
With three Supreme Court seats now also in play, the Appointments Committee faces a considerably heavier vetting load than the original recall notice suggested, all to be completed, reported and voted on before the House rises again on Friday, August 28.
Whether the compressed timetable holds, particularly for judicial nominees whose vetting has historically run longer, will be one of the clearer tests of how the recalled House manages its own workload this week.
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