President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has jabbed ex-President Mahama over his complaints about the judiciary and said he lost unanimously at the apex court because he provided no evidence for his claims.
Speaking during the 2022 Ghana Bar Annual Conference in Ho, the President said Mahama provided the ‘skimpiest of evidence’ before the Supreme Court and in that instance, the only just result was to lose 7-0.
“These are the plaintiffs who go to court, indeed the highest court of the land, and provide the skimpiest of evidence to back their claims and yet insist that their claims be upheld despite the elementary violation of the ancient common law rule of the discharge of the burden of proof that such a resort will entail…It is no wonder that their claims were unanimously dismissed 7-0 by the apex court.” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
He compared the NDC’s dismissed election petition case to theirs in 2013 and said they provided evidence to back their claims hence leading to a reform in the electoral system.
The president added; “The result of this case is in stark contrast to the result in 2013 when the unsuccessful plaintiffs managed to persuade four out of a nine-member court to fight for them and yet the earlier plaintiffs chose not to wage a political war against the court.”
Akufo-Addo said the government is working hard to implement policies that advance the rule of law and called on Ghanaians to reject those trying to diminish the judiciary for their own parochial interests.
“Just as government continues to implement policies to advance the rule of law and thereby re-enforce the confidence in the people and shore up our nation as a country governed by rule of law. There are some that have made it their political agenda to disarray systematically the image of the judiciary for selfish parochial partisan reasons.” the President said.
His comments follow ex-President Mahama’s wildly discussed comments disparaging the Ghanaian judiciary, specifically the Supreme Court.
Mahama said Ghanaians had lost confidence in the apex court because they had become ‘Unanimous FC’ – rubber stamping any decision of the Executive.
“So badly has the image of our Judiciary deteriorated that many of our citizenry openly make mockery of our justice system and of our justices. The phrase ‘Go to Court’ is these days met with derisive laughter, instead of hope that one will truly get justice,” Mahama told the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Lawyers’ Conference.
“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”, the former President suggested.
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com
