Mahama’s attack on judiciary baseless, says Godfred Dame
The Attorney General (AG) and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has condemned the former president John Mahama over his latest comment on the judiciary.
Mahama has criticised Ghana’s Supreme Court over its recent judgements, adding that the judiciary’s reputation had been severely tarnished.
“The image of our judiciary deteriorated that many of our citizenry openly make mockery of our Justice system and of our justices.,” the former president said recently. “The phrase; ‘go to court’ is these days met with derisive laughter instead of hope that one will truly get justice if he went to the court.”
According to him, “If people are not poking fun about politics and inducement being used to sway the hand of justice in the lower court then it is poking fun and making statements about the 7-0 of the unanimous FC. Verdicts which mostly involve cases of a political nature in our supreme court.”
“This is an unfortunate but serious development. One of the scariest existential threats to any democracy is when citizens think the judiciary hold no value for them,” Mahama added.
Reacting to the development at the Ghana Bar Association’s Annual Conference in Ho on Monday, ( 13 September), Dame said any attempt to tarnish the image of the judiciary will not be tolerated.
“The Judiciary has shown consistently that it is the last line of defence for our country. It was thus with great dismay and embarrassment that I heard a person who has occupied the highest office of State, former President John Mahama, recently launch an unwarranted attack on the integrity of Ghana’s Judiciary. And I observed that this was really the latest instalment of systematic and caustic attacks on our courts by the former President, albeit unjustified.
“At this moment, it is important for all to note that I express this sentiment not because I stand in opposition to former President Mahama as a politician.”
“The court is not a mercy chamber to serve justice based on sympathy or affection. I observed with even greater worry that the former President, a non-lawyer, made those comments at a meeting of the Legal Committee of his political party,” Dame said.
