Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has stated that Ghanaians cannot be stopped from criticising the judiciary’s actions or condemned for doing so.

Speaking at the 7th Legal Luminaries Conference on September 23, 2022 at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), he discussed how Ghana’s democratic system of governance allows for the constructive criticism of the various branches of government.

“Let me state without any fear of contradiction that it is fair and democratic for citizens to criticise the work of our justices constructively,” he said.

He explained his assertion by citing a judicial bribery scandal in 2015 and how the institutions of the state responded quickly by punishing all justices and judicial officers found culpable.

Afenyo-Markin reminded the public to be aware of the fact that there is, “everything diabolic about barefaced attacks that, in and of themselves, seek to intimidate our Justices and bend them to the will of those sections of the public and the political class.”

The deputy majority leader, who also serves as a member of parliament for Effutu in the Central Region, has warned that such attacks undermine public trust in the judiciary.

This, according to him, will, in the long run, encourage unsuspecting citizens to take the law into their own hands, posing a serious threat to national security.

His comments come at a time when former President John Dramani Mahama has heavily criticised the actions of the judiciary.

Addressing a gathering at the NDC’s Lawyers’ Conference on August 28, 2022, the 2020 NDC flagbearer who lost the elections and a subsequent petition at the Supreme Court insisted that it would take a new Chief Justice to repair the ‘broken image’ of the Judiciary.

“There is therefore the urgent need for the Ghanaian Judiciary to work to win the trust and confidence of the citizenry, and erase the widely held perception of hostility and political bias in legal proceedings at the highest courts of the land. Unfortunately, we have no hope that the current leadership of our Judiciary can lead such a process of change,” Mr Mahama said.

In response, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame described Mr Mahama’s attitude as deplorable and unbecoming of a former Head of State.

“My dismay is founded more on the fact that I am a lawyer and every lawyer ought to be concerned about these kinds of views expressed by a political leader in this country!,” he added.

Prior to the former statesman’s comment, there were concerns about President Akufo-Addo’s request for four judges to be elevated onto the Supreme Court Bench.

The nominees from the Court of Appeal are Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, Justice George Kingsley Koomson, and Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu.

Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu is the only nominee from the High Court.

He asserted that critics have dangerously weaponized the appointment of judicial officers in a way as to mislead unsuspecting citizens into believing that judges do the bidding of the presidents who appoint them.

“This is a dangerous trend that must be discouraged to protect the health of our democracy,” he advised.

The Deputy Majority Leader holds the assertion that “there is no evidence to show that the current constitutional arrangements have failed and that our justices lack the presence of mind to think and act independently.”

Source: The Independent Ghana