A former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Kwaku Gyan, has described as unfortunate the decision by the Supreme Court to prevent chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, from testifying during the 2020 presidential Election Petition.
He said the apex court’s decision was shameful.
Lawyers for former President John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 presidential election petition prayed the court to have the EC chair subpoenaed into the witness box.
They were however unsuccessful as the court ruled that the Chairperson and Peter Mac Manu could not be forced to testify in the Election Petition case.
Speaking at a public lecture themed “Protecting Our Democracy: The Role of the Judiciary,” Justice Kwaku Gyan described the decision as shameful.
He argued that the ruling prevented the EC from being accountable to the people.
“Article 125 (1) emphasizes that ‘justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the Republic by the judiciary which shall be independent and subject only to the constitution.’ The import of these stipulations is to underscore the fact that the judiciary and hence judges of our courts are accountable to the people as their servants and not as their masters in the quest to achieve and advance the vision of democratic government and the objective and tangible fruit of democracy in our land.”
“Additionally and more importantly, the judiciary has the bonding duty to hold all other powers, entities, and agencies of the state accountable and ensure transparency in their actions or deeds and in this respect, I felt very agonized when the Supreme Court in the 2020 election petition decided to shield the Electoral Commissioner from giving evidence. The Supreme Court in that trial was a constitutional court not just any court…adversarial court and the Electoral Commission was the Returning Officer.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
