Legal Practitioner, Lawyer Obiri Boahen, says comments made by the Former President, Mr John Dramani Mahama about the Chief Justice and the Judiciary is unfair.
His comments come after the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, asked Ghanaians to say no to persons who have made it their passion to make disparaging remarks against the Judiciary and the Electoral Commission for selfish, parochial and partisan reasons.
Mr Mahama addressing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Lawyers’ Conference called for a change in the leadership of the country’s judiciary to repair what he describes as its broken image.
According to him, the current state of the judiciary has sunk so low that it has lost the trust and faith of the ordinary person.
“So badly has the image of our Judiciary deteriorated that many of our citizenry openly make mockery of our justice system and of our justices. The phrase ‘Go to Court’ is these days met with derisive laughter, instead of hope that one will truly get justice”.
He continued that,“There is therefore the urgent need for the Ghanaian Judiciary to work to win the trust and confidence of the citizenry, and erase the widely held perception of hostility and political bias in legal proceedings at the highest courts of the land.”
Mr Mahama was convinced that the current leadership of the Judiciary lacks the qualities to redeem its sunken image, hence the need for a new Chief Justice.
“Unfortunately, we have no hope that the current leadership of our Judiciary can lead such a process of change. We can only hope, that a new Chief Justice will lead the process to repair the broken image that our Judiciary has acquired over the last few years,” he said.
But according to President Akufo-Addo, “Just as Government continues to implement policies to advance the rule of law, and, thereby, reinforce the confidence of the people, and shore up our nation’s reputation as a country governed by the rule of law, there are some who have made it their political agenda to disparage systematically the image of the Judiciary for selfish, parochial, partisan reasons.”
Read Also: “Say no to persons who disparage judiciary, EC”-Akufo-Addo
Speaking about this on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Lawyer Obiri Boahen said Mr Mahama’s comments were unfair .
“CDD has come out with their report, Afrobarometer has also come out with their report that the perceptions Ghanaians have about the Judiciary, customs, immigration, police service and others are low. We can take it from there but for a Former President to single out the Chief Justice and attack him, with all due respect, it is unfair,” he said.
He added that, “If you say every case comes out 7: 0, then you are making mockery of the judiciary, especially the Chief justice. It seems you have a grudge with the Chief Justice, you are personalising such a very important issue, and it is not fair.”
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori