President Akufo-Addo has described a dangerous politicisation of Ghana’s judiciary.
He averred that although the practice of judges being accused of having affiliations with the NDC and NPP was not new, it was unhealthy.
The President said these comments represent the most brazen attack on the independence of the judiciary.
He slammed President John Dramani Mahama for claiming that he (Nana Addo) has packed the judiciary with affiliates of the NPP.
He said such comments from a man who, right-thinking Ghanaians will vote against him and has been identified as Government Official 1 in the Airbus scandal were terrible.
He stated “Not only are these concepts of “NPP” and “NDC” judges new in our public discourse, they are also extremely dangerous, and represent the most brazen attack on the independence of the judiciary by any allegedly responsible politician of the 4th Republic.
They provide another reason, if more were needed, why right-thinking citizens should ensure the defeat in 2024 of the man whom the first Special Prosecutor identified as Government Official No.1, in the still unresolved Airbus Bribery Scandal,” he said at the 2023 Ghana Bar Association (GBA) conference today, Monday, September 11, 2023.
Background
NDC presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of deliberately appointing cronies to the judiciary, claiming that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has deliberately appointed the most judges to ensure his bidding is carried out when he is out of office.
The president acted in this way to avoid accountability for the corruption that has plagued his administration, Mr. Mahama said.
Addressing the closing ceremony of the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday, September 2, Mr. Mahama said “Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people onto the bench.”
“He has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting. You can see what the current president has done. He has packed the court, and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office.”
To address this challenge, he has asked members to take up careers on the bench to “balance out” the judiciary.
“So, I encourage some of you to look at careers on the bench so that we can balance out what the current situation is. We must be prepared as NDC legal persons to also go onto the bench so that we can balance out the judiciary,” he urged.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
