The Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has taken a swipe at former President John Dramani Mahama for comments he made against the judiciary. The Attorney-General stated that the court is not a mercy chamber to serve justice based on sympathy or affection.
“It ought to be understood that it is the duty of the courts to administer justice according to law. The court is not a mercy chamber to serve justice based on sympathy or affection,” he said.
According to the A-G, the recent “hate” comments by former President Mahama against the judiciary were the latest instalment of systematic and caustic attacks on the courts.
The A-G was speaking at the opening of the 2022 Bar Conference Association on Monday, September 12, 2022 in Ho, Volta Region.
In beginning his address, the A-G pointed out that the theme for the conference, Democracy in the Fourth Republic, was relevant to the current circumstances of the nation and pleaded that he may veer off, arguing that the A-G has a licence to speak on any topic at all at the Bar Conference.
Having served that caveat, Mr. Dame noted that he was compelled to comment on Mahama’s statement because they border on the security of the state and constitute a deliberate pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary.
Defending the judiciary as an arm of the government whose autonomy is crucial, “such conduct is clearly deplorable, coming from one who has occupied the highest office of President and aspires again to that office.”
He emphasised that he did not recall either the late Jerry John Rawlings or the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills mounting such a campaign of hate against the Judiciary.
UNANIMOUS DISMISSAL
The A-G, who was addressing a large gathering of lawyers and Law Lords, opined that, closely examined, one would notice that the source of the former President’s unjustified attacks on the Judiciary was the unanimous dismissal by the Supreme Court of his rather “porous election petition, which indeed was dead on arrival and bound to be dismissed by any court worth its salt in any country.”
He further observed that one cannot fail to note that his petition before the Court in 2021 was “a bundle of incompetent claims devoid of any substance.”
Proffering some advice, the A-G said it had taken decades, over a century, to build the integrity of Ghana’s judiciary, adding that “Let us not condone the imprudent actions of citizens to destroy it through baseless attacks.”
MAHAMA’S ATTACK
The former President Mahama, speaking at a gathering at the National Democratic Congress’ Lawyers’ Conference on Sunday, August 28, said the current judiciary has become an item of ridicule and mistrust and, therefore, the need for a new Chief Justice to restore public confidence in the courts.
“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.
“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,” John Mahama said.
