Parliament was sharply split today during the second reading of the Tribunals Bill, 2026, which seeks to establish special tribunals to ease the mounting backlog of cases in the traditional courts.
The Minority Caucus questioned the rationale behind the proposal, arguing that the creation of tribunals was not a convincing solution to the delays in the judicial system. They maintained that strengthening existing courts would be a more sustainable approach.
The Majority Caucus, however, defended the Bill, stressing that the tribunals would complement the judiciary by providing additional avenues for adjudication and reducing congestion in the courts.
Presenting the report of the Joint Committee on Constitution & Legal and Judiciary, the Chairperson, Hon. Shaibu Mahama, highlighted that the backlog of cases in the traditional courts continues to grow by approximately 3,360 cases annually, leading to prolonged adjudication and delayed justice.
The debate underscored the deep partisan divide over judicial reforms, with both sides agreeing on the urgency of addressing delays but differing sharply on the path forward.
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