The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah of supervising administrative abuses in Ghana.
Mr. John Asiedu Nketia at a press conference in Accra on Friday said the Chief Justice “has failed to show leadership and to keep the flag of the judiciary flying high by abusing his powers to empanel the courts.”
The NDC scribe therefore asserted that the Chief Justice is “likely to go down in history as the worst Chief Justice in the Republic of Ghana since the inception of the fourth republic.”
“His reign as Chief Justice has been characterised by unimaginable administrative abuses. These abuses are thrown into sharp disbelief when the conduct of the current Chief Justice is measured against the professionalism and conduct of former chief justices,” Johnson Asiedu Nketia noted.
The party, during a news conference on Friday cited several apex court rulings including the ruling on the Opuni case for Justice Honyenuga to recuse himself, the Supreme court ruling on the election petition, the ruling on the Deputy Speaker taking part in voting processes while presiding and other rulings they described as “unreasoned court judgement” as basis for the accusation.
The NDC General Secretary therefore called for Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah’s administration to be probed.
‘We, therefore, call on the Judicial Council to institute an internal inquiry to ascertain the reasons for these blunders and appropriate recommendations made to forestall their recurrence until appropriate legislation such as a Judicial proceedings bill is passed by Parliament to regulate the writing of judgement by our courts,” he added.
The party stressed that it will also “petition Parliament for the Judiciary Committee of the House to constitute a public enquiry into the reasons for this blunders committed by the Supreme Court in the 2020 Presidential election petition and other cases with the view to proposing appropriate remedial legislation.”
The press conference by the NDC was held against the backdrop of a recent report by the Ghana Statistical Service and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
The report of a research undertaken by the two state institutions, revealed that prosecutors, judges or magistrates were among the top three public officials who received the largest cash bribes paid in 2021.
According to the report, prosecutors, judges or magistrates placed 2nd with an average amount of GHC1,208 as cash bribes.
