FIVE GHANAIANS TO NAME CORRUPT JUDICIARIES!

FIVE GHANAIANS TO NAME CORRUPT JUDICIARIES!

Edward Adeti’s Report, Upper East, Ghana

Five Ghanaians are said to have confirmed their readiness, if given the chance, to narrate details of judicial corruption and to name some judiciaries who reportedly rather victimised them when they sought redress in the court of law and justice.

Dr. Clement A. Apaak, a frontrunner of the Forum for Governance and Justice (FGJ), mentioned this in Bolgatanga when he led a joint press conference to press for the recall of the four lawyers who were outlawed in 2011 by the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) for making public comments about perceived instances of corruption in the Judiciary.  He said some of the five soon-might-be witnesses, all men, have their evidence complete and are lacing up their boots for public hearing.

The FGJ was among nine nerve-racking pressure groups in the Upper East Region calling for the reinstatement of Dr. Raymond Atuguba, Mr. Abraham Amaliba, Mr. David Annan and the late Larry Bimi. Dr. Apaak made it clear that the Forum, which though emerged in the wake of the prejudice meted out to the four lawyers, had come to stay to ensure that “ordinary Ghanaians like you and me” have unrestrained access to prompt and full justice at all times.

He expressed deep shock and worry over the revelations he claimed to have received so far from some other aggrieved Ghanaians (besides the five bold individuals) about how they had been victimised by the same judicial system that was supposed to provide solace and redress for them. According to him, five people had confirmed their willingness to tell how dockets got missing, how dockets slimmed down half-empty, all that they went through and to unmistakably point at the legal figures involved.

Whilst calling on all well-meaning groups and individuals in the country to join the efforts of the nine pressure groups in ensuring that justice prevails, Dr. Apaak also urged Ghanaians who had been victims of judicial corruption to contact the FGJ through info.fgj@gmail.com. “We must demystify the judicial system and create an environment devoid of any climate of fear if more people must come out to tell their stories,” he stressed.

Dr. Apaak lamented that the four debarred lawyers had, among others, been denied access to the courts of Ghana since May, this year, adding “We believe that this is an injustice, and it is a blatant attempt to intimidate these lawyers into submission—an attempt that has so far failed and will fail.”

He maintained that it was wrong to blacklist those lawyers for exercising their right to free speech and added that, by denying the lawyers access to courtrooms, their clients were being punished. Dr. Apaak described the denial as a breach of the constitutional right of a citizen to be represented by a lawyer of his or her choice.

Launching another shock, he said findings by the FGJ showed that the AMJG itself was never given any certificate by the Registrar General’s Department to commence any business and, therefore, questioned the standing and qualification of the Association to sanction any legal practitioner in Ghana. It also questioned an alleged cowardly silence on the part of the AMJG and General Legal Council with its Disciplinary Committee on an invitation by the FGJ to court hearing on the debarred lawyers.

“Why have the Association of Judges and Magistrates, the General Legal Council and the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council not filed responses to the suit filed on 8th June, 2011, against them (suit number AP.121/2011) by Dr. Clement Apaak and Dr. Buame, leading members of the Forum for Governance and Justice (FGJ) on behalf of the four lawyers: Dr. Raymond Atuguba, Abraham Amaliba, David Annan and Larry Bimi? Why is the General Legal Council (and its disciplinary committee) still entertaining a complaint brought before it by an Association of Magistrates and Judges which does not have the capacity to operate as an organisation (suit number AP.121/2011)?” he probed.

He said the refusal of the Association to rescind its decision on the four debarred lawyers had outlived a 7-day deadline given by the FGJ in June, this year, whilst the Association also seemed to have survived a post-deadline petition filed to the Chief Justice against it within the same month. Dr. Apaak vowed that the Forum would employ everything within the confines of the law to ensure that justice was done.

A statement from Coalition of Northern Senior High School Students (CONOSHSS) which was read by Mr. Peter Apuko Awuni, an Executive Coordinator, also questioned the legality of the AMJG and asked why the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood, as well as former and current Deputy Attorney-Generals Ms. Gloria Akuffo and Mr. Ebo Barton-Oduro respectively were not sanctioned after ever making similar statements in the public on perceived instances of corruption in Ghana’s judicial system.

“The Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Her Ladyship Georgina Theodora Wood made it emphatically clear that corruption in the Judiciary was indeed a reality and not a rumour. Her statement followed a report of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) on the Transparency International (TI) Global Corruption Report (GCR 2007). The statement, we know, did not go down well with the AMJG and GBA. Why was her Ladyship not sanctioned for her affirmation?” it asked.

CONOSHSS described the action of the AMJG as “ill-motivated” and asked for immediate revocation of the sanction with unqualified apologies to the blacklisted lawyers who, according to the Coalition, were honestly serving the nation by boldly saying the truth within the judicial system.     

The rest of the pressure groups were the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), BONABOTO, the Upper East Youth Association, the Zongo Youth Association, the Zongo Women Association, the Bimoba Youth Association and the Diyahun-Deen Islam.