By Akyeampong Duodu
Man’s sense of justice is inborn. This is best expressed in the Bible, specifically in Numbers 24:20, which states, “Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.”
This innate sense of justice is evident even in infants, who have a unique way of seeking justice. When a child feels offended, they cry until their mothers seek justice on their behalf. This is often done by letting them spit in their mothers’ palms, after which their offenders are spanked.
Notwithstanding, if man’s pursuit of justice is not regulated, “the society will be turned into a state of nature, where every man will be at war against the other,” as observed by Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher.
Backdrop
It is against this backdrop that all civilized democratic societies ensure the independence of the judiciary to embolden judges to dispense justice without fear or favor. By this principle, the judiciary is protected against all forms of external influence.
It is therefore worrying to note that Ghana’s judicial system, since independence, has suffered political interference in one way or another. For instance, the Preventive Detention Act (PDA), which empowered Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to arrest and detain citizens without trial, was an affront to the independence of the judiciary.
Additionally, Dr. Nkrumah sacked Sir Arku Korsah, a former Chief Justice, because the latter found the alleged perpetrators of the Kulungugu bomb attack on the first President to be innocent.
Judiciary under 2nd Republic
The judiciary under the Second Republic also witnessed political interference. For instance, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, the then Prime Minister, defied a Supreme Court ruling that ordered him to reinstate some 568 public servants, including Mr. E. K. Sallah, whom his government had unconstitutionally dismissed. This was later cited as one of the reasons for the 1972 coup d’état by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
Little did Ghanaians know that the darkest days of the country’s judiciary were yet to occur. Under the military dictatorship of Jerry John Rawlings, three High Court judges and a military officer were abducted and killed in cold blood simply because they were perceived to be aligned with the People’s National Party (PNP) government that Mr. Rawlings had overthrown.
The return of constitutional rule in 1992 did not cure the gross disrespect the rule of law and the judicial system had suffered. Ghanaians had to endure the legal vestiges of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) under the Rawlings-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. The indemnity clause, which barred the prosecution of PNDC officials who were implicated in heinous crimes, including murder, was seen as a scar on the rule of law and democratic governance.
Thankfully, the John Agyekum Kufuor-led government, which assumed administration of the country in 2001, brought some sanity to the judicial system. Former President Kufuor did not meddle in the affairs of the judiciary. The Chief Justice who was in office before his government was allowed to complete his tenure without any threat of impeachment.
Threats against judges, however, resumed with the return of the second NDC government under former President John Evans Atta Mills. Immediately after the NDC assumed the administration of the nation in 2009, President Mills received a petition to sack Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. The former CJ is reported to have said in a news report by GhanaWeb that appointees of the erstwhile Mills government pressured her to almost resign.
Healing legal wounds
Thankfully, however, Nana Akufo-Addo healed the legal wounds the NDC had inflicted on the judiciary. He did this by upholding all court rulings, including those that went against him and his party. For instance, although the constitutional lawyer disagreed with the verdict of the Supreme Court on the 2012 election petition, he upheld it and appealed to his party members to remain calm.
President John Dramani Mahama, however, brought back the dark days of gross disrespect for judges in 2016. In the heat of the 2016 campaign, three NDC members and sympathizers—namely Salifu Maase, Godwin Ako Gann, and Alistair Nelson—threatened to eliminate some justices of the Supreme Court over their handling of a lawsuit that questioned the credibility of the national voters’ register. One of them went to the extent of threatening to rape the then-CJ, Theodora Wood.
Their contemptuous comments earned them a four-month jail term from the Supreme Court. However, since NDC government appointees felt these individuals stood for the electoral interests of their party against the sanctity of the country’s judicial system, they petitioned President Mahama to pardon the convicted contemnors. Surprisingly, he took advantage of his power of clemency to pardon these contemnors, who had openly disrespected a whole CJ.
Also, after losing the 2020 election petition, President Mahama led his party members to undermine the integrity of the judges, calling them the “Unanimous FC.” Since this incident, NDC bigwigs have subjected Ghanaian judges to verbal abuse until they succeeded in causing the public to lose confidence in the country’s court system.
Anti-judicial plans
Finally, President Mahama has now gained the power to execute his anti-judicial plans. Following his electoral victory, he has initiated the process to sack the current CJ, Her Ladyship, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
While the 1992 Constitution allows for the removal of the Chief Justice under Article 146, the circumstances surrounding this decision are worrisome. The filing of nolle prosequi to free former NDC officials accused of corruption and the harassment of Akufo-Addo appointees by the Mahama-led government exacerbate the situation.
This perceived attempt to control the judiciary and promote political interests may jeopardize peace and stability in Ghana. The Peace Council, Otumfour, and national opinion leaders should intervene to prevent President Mahama from pursuing this potentially dangerous decision.
The author is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Awutu Senya West Constituency.
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