The Ghana judiciary, following some
known and established unfair
judgments they have pronounced,
and still continue to pronounce, on
some cases, have lost their
credibility in the eyes of the
Ghanaian public. The judiciary,
correctly or wrongly, are believed by
many Ghanaians to be corrupt
beyond redemption.
They are perceived to sell justice to
the highest bidder. Subsequently,
most of their declared verdicts are in
bad faith, very unfair. The poor are
often denied justice, or are treated
very badly. Cases are abnormally,
repeatedly adjourned, a methodical
delay tactic with intent to deny one
party justice, usually, the poor party,
be they the defendant or the
plaintiff.
The public perception about their
corruptibility, unprofessionalism,
and unreliability to deliver fair
judgment came to climax during the
Election 2012 petition. From the live
telecast of the Supreme Court
proceedings on Election 2012
petition, both discerning laymen and
legal minds that had the opportunity
to follow the case concluded that
the petitioners were winning the
case. They could not believe their
ears and eyes when William
Atuguba, upon all the reasons
adduced, the credible evidential
documents presented by the
petitioners to the court, still
declared their petition to be without
merit and hence, threw it out.
At this point, Ghanaians and the
world realised how the Ghana
Supreme Court lacks demonstrable
integrity. They lost trust in the
courts.
However, two recent verdicts
delivered by the Supreme Court
panel of judges presided over by the
Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina
Theodora Wood; seem to be
remedying its tattered image. Both
panels of Supreme Court judges
sensibly declared verdicts according
to better interpretations of the law
vis-à-vis the cases before them.
They did not twist the truth to suit
either their parochial interests or
that of a superior hand remotely
pulling the cord from the comfort of
their corridor of power.
In the first case, they have stopped
the Electoral Commission, in which
case it is the obstinate Dr Kwadwo
Afari Gyan, from accepting NHIS
registration cards as proof of
identity to biometrically register
people on the voters register. In the
second case, they have ordered the
Ghanaian swindler of the century,
Alfred Agbesi Woyome, to refund the
Ghc51.2 Million he fraudulently
obtained from Ghana government in
2010. Woyome, the self-styled sole
financier of the NDC party, thought
he could get away with the money
because his party and accomplices
are in power.
If the judiciary had been doing as
cited in the two recent Supreme
Court verdicts, Ghana would be a
much better place to live than her
current tormenting socio-politico-
economic situation that is driving
Ghanaians crazy.
Going by William Atuguba's
nonsensical verdict that has partly
contributed to plunging Ghana into
her current economic mess, some
people in authority thought that is
the current order; they can also flout
the laws with impunity as did Dr
Kwadwo Afari Gyan, during Election
2012 and the creation of new
Districts and new constituencies.
Unfortunately however, the law that
is no respecter of persons, when
truthfully interpreted, has held a
certain powerful Ghanaian leader by
the balls. He thought he could twist
history, bully some innocent but
poor persons, trample upon their
rights, take their birth right away
from them and bequeath it to
someone else, dubiously availing
himself of the poor persons
property, all with impunity, is now
held firmly in the grips of the law.
With the judiciary now getting their
acts together, determined than ever
before to deliver credible verdicts, I
have only to wish them good luck. I
hope they will continue with the
good job done lately, by the
Supreme Court, as cited above. With
the delivery of fair judgments, sanity
and hope will be restored in Ghana,
thereby paving the way for her
speedy recovery from the socio-
economic crisis she finds herself in.
More grease to the elbows of all
those judges that have seen the
light of truth.
Rockson Adofo
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