Madina Lawmaker Francis Xavier Sosu has wondered why judges will be disturbed by his ‘political judges’ comment if they do their work well and do not allow themselves to be influenced politically to be partisan.
His comment comes after the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) has filed an official complaint at the General Legal Council (GLC), the body that regulates the Legal Profession in Ghana, against him for the utterances he made against the judges recently.
The judges said they deemed the utterances of Mr Sosu who is also a private legal practitioner as an unprovoked attack on the judiciary.
“The questions the association will like to ask Sosu are, who is a political judge, who determines who is a political judge and by what criteria is the determination made? Who are the so-called political judges who are going to be dealt with.?
“The association considers this statement of Honorable Sosu as deliberate and calculated to create disaffection for the judiciary, an attempt to scandalize the judiciary and judges, we condemn the said the statements in no terms
“The association takes a serious view of the statement and considers it very unprofessional from a lawyer and an unprovoked attack on the judiciary.
“Having regards to the seriousness with which the AMJG takes this statement and its potential to do undue damage to the image of the judiciary, the association is lodging a formal complaint against sosu to the general legal council immediately for his unprofessional utterances,” Justice Henry Kwofie, President of the AMJG said.
Sosu had warned judges against being partisan along political lines. He said the judges who become political in the line of their work would be treated as politicians.
Speaking to TV3 during the ‘Yen Tua’ demonstration on Thursday February 10, Sosu who is standing trial in court for unlawful blockade of road and destruction of public property after he led some constituents in Danfa on Monday, October 25, 2021 to demonstrate against their bad roads, said “I am begging you, if you make yourself a political judge, you will be treated as a political judge.
“What it means is that when you become partisan as a judge remember that your tenure of office as a judge will run with the political party that you favour. Let that be clear because political power is very transient, positions are not possessions so people will come, people will go,” he said.
Respodning to the statements by the judges, Sosu said “Let me unequivocally say that I respectfully respond to the release at the peril of my own career as a lawyer and have come to realise at this point in my life that I must stand up to my convictions.
“The release will not stop me from my continuous critique of the Judiciary when need be. After all, one of the tools by which citizens can demand accountability of the Judiciary is through public criticism. As a Member of Parliament and speaking in that capacity, I have every right to demand that our judiciary be devoid of political influence.”
“I am highly disappointed with the content of the Statement because the Association clearly misconstrued the content and the context of my statement. For the avoidance of doubt, my statement was indeed DELIBERATE AND WELL THOUGHT OUT except that contrary to their
assertion, it was NEVER AN ATTEMPT TO SCANDALIZE THE JUDICIARY,.”
He added “As a Ghanaian, a devout Christian, a lawyer, a human rights activist, and the elected representative of the good people of Madina in Ghana’s parliament, I am deeply worried about the posturing of the Association directed at me because our country’s democracy HINGES on the confidence people have in the Judiciary which appears to be eroding. We risk collapsing our country if the Judiciary
cannot take this counsel in good faith.
“I know of many fine judges from District Courts, Circuit Courts, High Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court who have demonstrated an impeccable fidelity to the Rule of Law and the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Why should a judge be disturbed by my statement if the said judge does his or her work well and does not allow him or herself to be influenced politically to be
partisan? Who the cap fits let him or her wear it!”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
