- "The Bar has read and viewed with great concern, accusations made in the media in recent times with respect to the judiciary, the bar finds the allegations offensive and distasteful. They incite hatred among the public with regard to judges, expose them to ridicule and put them into disrepute."
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) is impressing upon the MP for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, to substantiate the bribery allegation he made against a Supreme Court judge, or retract it immediately.
The GBA said it finds the allegation against the judiciary very “offensive and distasteful”.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP claimed that a Supreme Court judge tried to bribe an opposition lawmaker to vote for Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye as Speaker of Parliament.
A statement issued by the GBA said: “The Bar has read and viewed with great concern, accusations made in the media in recent times with respect to the judiciary.
“The Bar finds the allegations offensive and distasteful. They incite hatred among the public with regard to judges, expose them to ridicule and put them into disrepute.”
The GBA said such a statement has the potential to undermine the integrity of the judiciary and erode public confidence in the institution. It has therefore admonished the public to be circumspect in utterances against judges.
Stop bastardising the bench
Meanwhile, Ernest Kofi Abotsi, the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Professional Studies Accra, has called on politicians to desist from bastardising the judiciary.
“I will urge our political class to be circumspect in our pronouncements, because the courts generally survive on confidence in their work,” he said. “And therefore if there is an allegation, particularly one which is not established and is thrown out there, the prospect that this can not only create suspicion in the minds of people but actually dampen the mandate and legitimacy of the courts is serious.
“In many countries that fell victim to civil war, the starting point was to bastardise the court. Once you bastardise the court, people think that there is no avenue for resolution, so they fight on the streets. I think we should be careful the extent to which we bastardise our courts.”
Abotsi urged people in authority such as MPs to be measured and circumspect in their utterances.
“I haven’t monitored the comment, but I think any general allegation that seeks to bastardise the court … can be undermining of the confidence that people have in the court, and that is problematic for all: not for any political party, but for the entire country.”
Fred Dzakpata
* Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
#asaaseradio #TVOL
