Article 128 (1) of the 1992 Constitution states that, the Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other Justices of the Supreme Court. The Constitution never stated the maximum number to compose the Supreme Court.
As at today, there are twelve judges in the highest court of the land. And the president is nominating three judges to the Supreme Court, to make the number fifteen. Before people scream “it is too much,” may I remind Ghanaians that during the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, at one point, we had eighteen judges on the Supreme Court.
Today, some people, including a retired Supreme Court judge, are claiming that the president is packing the courts with his cronies, whatever that means.
The fact that judgment may not go the way of one’s expectation does not mean that judge(s) were under the influence of their appointing authority. Today, whenever court judgment goes against the opposition, then Ghana must burn. The judges are called demeaning names when their verdicts do not, please the NDC.
A retired supreme court judge, Justice William Atuguba, could condemn verdicts by the Supreme Court and shamelessly even go on to say, the Supreme Court should not have taken on some cases. Meaning, the Supreme Court, he did not belong to, does not know its role and function in the judicial process in this country.
Somewhere in the late nineties, I encountered a beautiful magistrate of the Senchi court, in the Eastern region. I asked her that if she was in a bar, sitting in the corner coolly drinking, and fight broke out and someone got stabbed to death, what would she do if the case comes before her and the accused was not the one who did the stabbing?
She said, she will first recuse herself and get another judge to handle the case, and maybe come on as a witness. However, if there is no judge, she will sit on the case. But here, the accusedperson must defend himself and convince the court that he was not the one, Or Else!
Every judgment made by a judge is his or her opinion.
In this country, some landmark cases, directly concerning the political status of this country, went against sense of reasoning. The first was in 1970 when the High Court ruled against Prime Minister K. A. Busia for dismissing Mr Sallah from work. Strangely, the verdict, set aside Art. 140, which mandated public officers to dismiss workers and PM Busia was the Number One Public Officer.
In 1993, President J.J. Rawlings, had wanted to celebrate the 31st December Revolution. A revolution that overthrew the 1979 Constitution was going to be celebrated in a constitutional era. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) took the matter to court and won.
The NDC government was told that it was illegal to celebrate the 31st December Revolution with state funds. Rawlings, nonetheless, defied the court and celebrated the event.To this day, no NDC member has come to condemn the celebration of the 31st December Revolution.
One of the judges who were in the minority, Justice Abban, in trying to convince Ghanaians, stated that Prime Minister Busia in February 1970 praised the February 24, 1966 coup. When he was corrected by one Kwabena Mensah Bonsu, that it was rather a Daily Graphic editorial which made that statement, he was hurled to court on libel charges. He was found guilty and jailed for a month.Justice Abban was later made Chief Justice by Rawlings, to reward his loyalty.
The 2012 Presidential Petition ended with an unreasonable judgment by Justice Atuguba. Article 49, which mandated presiding officers to sign the election results at the polling stations, was set aside and this made the defendant win the case.
Today, the NDC is out there crying wildly, that any court judgment should first seek to unite the country. Meaning the truth can be set aside, if it would not please the NDC. Look, where some people have taken justice to.
One issue which some people, including Justice Atuguba, are advocating is that an independent body should appoint judges to the various levels of the judiciary and this includes the Supreme Court.
This, to me does not make sense. Practically, such people are calling for independent bodies to nominate the IGP as well. I may not be wrong if I include the position of CDS and other heads of the security agencies and civil departments.
How are we sure that these nominations will end up with the correct people being put into office? How can we be sure, political parties in opposition will not fix persons into those positions, to make the country ungovernable?
The president has nominated three judges to the Supreme Court. I hope they will pass through Parliament with success and become Supreme Court judges. I pray that Ghanaians allow the president the peace he needs, so that he can dispatch his duties and responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution.
The way, the opposition and its allies are attacking the president whenever he performs his constitutional duties, I will suggest that they rather come out and say, the 1992 Constitution drafted by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and written to suit Rawlings, is bad and should be replaced. They should condemn Rawlings for masterminding this longest serving Constitution.
Hon. Daniel Dugan
