Editorial: We must not lose hope in the Judiciary

Last Monday at the annual conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in Kumasi, former President John Agyekum Kufuor; the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Georgina Wood; the President of the GBA, Nene Amegatcher, and the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, all spoke on the bribery scandal that has hit the Judiciary.

Mr Kufuor described the recent exposé of allegations of bribery as abominable and shameful which should cause all in the legal profession to hang their heads in shame.

The Chief Justice also expressed regret that while the recent exposé on the alleged corrupt judges was ongoing, she had been leading a three-member delegation from the Judicial Council to meet with judicial staff to advise them on the need to avoid such canker.

Dr Ayine, for his part, issued a strong warning to the staff of the Judicial Service who could not live up to the constitutional, ethical and moral standards of the service to resign or be forced out.

 Nene Amegatcher, however, encouraged members of the GBA not be to deterred by the scandal but continue to submit applications to become judges and magistrates because of the expansion of infrastructure and the likely fallout from the ongoing investigations.

While we acknowledge that the exposé on the Judiciary has come as a major shock to many, we believe that there is a positive side to it, which is the opportunity to clean the entire judicial system.

We, therefore, urge all not to lose faith in the Judiciary because of the bribery allegation. If there has been any time that we need the Judiciary as a country, it is now.

There cannot be any sanity in our governance system and our tag as a bastion of democracy in the West African sub-region will suffer a major jolt should we cast a slur on the country’s Judiciary in view of the scandal.

Indeed, the investigations conducted by Anas Aremeyaw Anas showed that not all our justices were involved in the scandal. There are still men and women of integrity who can hold their heads high after the dirt settles on the exposé and who will ensure fairness and justice for all at all times.

We cannot afford to look at the Judiciary any differently from how we have perceived it in times past — an institution that upholds justice, integrity and the rule of law in the country.

The power of the courts to settle disputes, protect citizens from criminals and other bullish elements and protect the sovereignty, sanctity and purse of the state is of great importance to us as a state and we must guard it at all cost, including the efforts to weed out those not fit to hold the respected office of judges.