General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has launched a scathing attack on the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, saying he is systematically packing the apex court with judges who are extremely partisan.
Mr Asiedu Nketia alleges that these judges appear to be doing the bidding of the President and this is already creating doubts about the judiciary in the minds of ordinary Ghanaians.
The NDC General Secretary made these observations in a statement to reply Justice Isaac Douse, a retired Court of Appeal justice, who is said to have taken on John Dramani Mahama over his recent comments about the judiciary.
After Mr Mahama, who seeks to lead the NDC again in the 2024 elections, had observed that the public perception of the judiciary is badly damaged, retired judge Isaac Douse said the ‘attack’ had the potential to badly affect the democratic gains made.
Mr Asiedu Nketia put it to the retired justice if he has observed what President Akufo-Addo is doing with his appointments within the judiciary.
“Is Justice Douse observing how the president continues to pack our courts with partisan judges?” the firebrand NDC General Secretary asked.
“As an experienced jurist, does he fully appreciate the implications of such acts on justice delivery and for that matter the image of the judiciary and its independence?”
He answered that such moves “completely undermine the doctrine of separation of powers with its inherent checks and balances”.
“The result is that both citizens and the investor community lose trust in the judiciary and therefore resort to other unorthodox means to process their grievances.”
Recent rulings by the Supreme Court has raised suspicions about the neutrality of the justices.
Opinions are divided about the judgements – many of which have been unanimous – given.
The Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah, in April observed that rulings by the Supreme Court was unduly favouring the ruling government, a situation which is raising suspicions among the public.
A Professor at the University of Ghana, Ransford Yaw Gyampo, backed this observation.
“To my mind, anyone who can’t understand this, does not only lack analytical astuteness. Such a person is also a political infant, a nation wrecker and a great threat to the quest for strong institutions, national cohesion, consensual politics, peace, and political stability, without which there can be no development,” Prof Gyampo wrote.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana