Former President John Dramani Mahama has accused President Akufo Addo of packing the courts with appointments of about 100 judges some of whom are politically inclined ostensibly to avoid accountability on the high levels of corruption under his government.
“…but you can see what the current President has done, he appointed the largest number of judges onto the bench. More than 80 towards hundred and counting”.Mahama said.
He said the influences on judges have led to diminishing trust as some judgements delivered particularly on political cases have been quiet bizarre .
Mr. Mahama stated that ,these have reflected in opinion polls and surveys that indicate many Ghanaians have lost trust in fairness and impartiality of the judiciary.
“All opinion polling and other surveys that have been done shows that the reputation of our judiciary is at its lowest and we all know what has contributed to this.There have been low level off credibility with the judiciary.Our people have always felt that there is Monitory influence that influence judgement in both civil and criminal case and you remember the Anas Exposure that led to the sacking of some judges”
He however said ,the influence have now transitioned to partisanship influences on judges.
“but it has gone beyond monitory inducement. Now ,it is also seen that the judiciary is partisan and a lot of people feel that justice is not served in many cases and we bare the brunt of that .You feel that the judiciary is partisan and in many cases some of the decisions are quiet bizarre”.
John Dramani Mahama therefore proposed judicial reforms to restore absolute trust and confidence in Ghana’s judicial system.
He was however quick to add that, the reforms must not be imposed by the Executive arm rather be done through collaboration with the judiciary.
“We do believe that there must be judicial reform .Indeed when you interview most Ghanaians they believe that there must be some reform of the judiciary in order to bolster its reputation and make it an independent institution that not only Ghanaians but foreign investors and nay person who is in the jurisdiction of Ghana can trust
John Dramani Mahama said this Saturday September 2,2023 when addressing the closing session of the 3rd Lawyers Conference organized by NDC Lawyers Association at Akosombo in the Eastern region.
Mr.John Mahama urged Lawyers with the NDC to also go to the bench.
“Our lawyers, some of you must be prepared to go unto the bunch, I know that some of you have very lucrative legal practices you will not want to leave and go unto the bench”.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
