Politics

Let’s stop the hypocrisy; Mahama’s comments on judiciary is a fact – Apaak

The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak has said that the comments former President John Mahama made on the state of the judiciary is a fact.

According to him, critics of the former President must stop the hypocrisy and criticize rather how President Akufo-Addo has turned the nation’s judiciary to.

“Nothing wrong with the comments made by John Mahama regarding the current state of our judiciary. Is it not a fact that Nana Addo has packed the bench; appointed card carrying NPP members as judges?

“Until the hypocrisy stops our democracy will continue to be on the brink of collapse,” Dr. Apaak stated.

Background

Former President John Mahama has recommended judicial reforms to restore absolute trust and confidence in Ghana’s judicial system.

He however hastened to add that the reforms must not be imposed by the Executive arm rather by collaboration with the judiciary.

Mr. Mahama averred that, the reform is necessary due diminishing public trust in the judiciary which must be the backbone of democracy and rule of law in the country.

“All opinion polling and other surveys that have been done show that the reputation of our judiciary is at its lowest and we all know what has contributed to this. There have been low level off credibility with the judiciary. Our people have always felt that there is monetary influence that influence judgement in both civil and criminal case and you remember the Anas exposure that led to the sacking of some judges”.

According to the former President, the influence of the judiciary has metamorphosed to partisanship which has manifested in “bizarre” decisions on political related cases.

“But it has gone beyond monetary inducement. Now, it is also seen that the judiciary is partisan and a lot of people feel that justice is not served in many cases and we bear the brunt of that .You feel that the judiciary is partisan and in many cases some of the decisions are quiet bizarre .We do believe that there must be judicial reform. Indeed when you interview most Ghanaians they believe that there must be some reform of the judiciary in order to bolster its reputation and make it an independent institution that, not only Ghanaians but foreign investors and any person who is in the jurisdiction of Ghana can trust”.

He continued “so this must be something the executive cannot impose on the judiciary but the judiciary and the executive working together can work to improve the stature of the judiciary”.

Former President Mahama said this Saturday September 2, 2023 when addressing the closing session of the 3rd Lawyers Conference organized by NDC Lawyers Association at Akosombo in the Eastern region.

Source: Today.com.gh