The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has deplored the statement by former President John Mahama against the Judiciary as distasteful and unworthy, urging lawyers to be concerned about such utterances.
Mr. Dame described the Former President’s attitude as unbecoming of a former Head of State and described the unprovoked criticisms as unnecessary.
He has therefore expressed concerned about the constant denigrating for the court, attitudes he said is not in the interest of lawyers.
“I observe with even greater worry that the former president, a non-lawyer, made those comment at a meeting of the Legal Committee of his political party. None of the lawyers raised a finger to contest the wrong and dangerous propaganda by the former president.
“By their silence they became abettors of the propagation of hate against the Judiciary. It is worrying because lawyers ought to be the loudest and strongest defenders of the independence, integrity and and importance of the Judiciary rather than serving as tools for its destruction.”he added.
“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 said.
Speaking at this year’s Bar Conference, the Attorney General raised security concerns about such statement and urged lawyers to be weary of such comments which does not bode well for the country.
“I am compelled to comment on same in this address because they border on the security of the state and constitute a deliberate pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the independence of the Judiciary, an arm of government whose autonomy is crucial to its proper functioning. He added.
The Former President at a recent conference of NDC’s Lawyers’ Conference made scathing statement about the judiciary and the chief Justice, running down the state institution.
Mr. Mahama in his speech said, the current state of the Judiciary is not fit for purpose, as the current leadership of the Judiciary lacks what it takes to redeem its sunken image, hence the need for a new Chief Justice.
“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.
“We can only hope, that a new Chief Justice will lead the process to repair the broken image that our Judiciary has acquired over the last few years,” Mahama said.
source: theGhanaianvoice.com
