A Supreme Court Justice nominee, Henry Anthony Kwofie, has said he will recuse himself if a case is brought before him that involves people he has a close relationship with.
He said this while answering questions asked by Ayawaso Central Lawmaker Henry Quartey as to what he will do if cases involving his friends are brought before him, during the vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, December 20.
“I will recuse myself,” he said.
He added, “I think that is what most judges do, when we do that those ones are not published because they are not news.”
Answering questions on corruption perception among judges, asked by Bawku Central lawmaker Mahama Ayariga, he said that most of these allegations are unfounded.
“Perception is a mind issue, there is a lot of talk about it, with perceptions they are difficult to deal with. There have been several seminars by the judiciary on corruption and ethics, we have ethics, and we train judges on issues of ethics, corruption, and proper behavior almost every year we do it.
“The perception, some of them are actually unfounded. Somebody goes to court and loses a case and then all of a sudden there is corruption, somebody misconducts himself and there is corruption,” he said.
“Some judges misconduct themselves, I don’t deny that fact, but it should not be used as an indicator to say judges are bad or a judge, therefore, is corrupt,” he stressed
Asked again about what the judiciary should do to communicate to the public on corruption allegations made against judges, he answered again “Probably we need to look at our Communications Department. We need a very strong communications or Public Relations Department to speak for us.”