Some judges stand up against corruption
The lead investigator in the judicial bribery scandal, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has stated that some judges were more than ready to put him behind prison bars for even coming to speak to them about a case.
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“Others would not permit me to come and bribe them and their clerks told me that very clearly. Anytime that happened, I left the court premises with a sense of joy and hope. They made me know that justice had no price. There is, indeed, hope for Ghana,” he stated.
According to him, most of the new circuit and district court judges were determined to do their work without any compromise.
“It was their determination and courage to do the right thing that motivated me every day. We as a people must not fail them,” he stated.
“In the course of my investigations into perceived corruption in the Judiciary, I found judges who were ready to uphold their oaths and perform the duties of their office without fear or favour,” he said, adding, “There is hope for Ghana.”
This is contained in a letter to the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, dated September 12, 2015, which acknowledges 12 judges who stood their ground to uphold their oaths and dispense justice without fear or favour.
Upright judges
Mr Anas stated that it was an honour to also acknowledge to the Chief Justice that “having submitted a petition to your high office in respect of corrupt judges, I deem it a great honour to present to you some of the good and morally upright judges that I had the honour of coming across”.
He mentioned the judges as Justice Kwasi Boakye (High Court, Wa), Justice Bright Mensah (High Court, Accra), Justice Constance Hometowu (High Court, Accra), Justice Georgina Mensah–Datsa (High Court, Accra), Justice Jennifer Dodoo (High Court, Accra), Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe (High Court, Accra) and Justice Anthony Oppong (High Court, Accra).
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The rest, he said, were Ms Felicia Gandedze (District Court, Abeka-Accra), Mr Charles Kwasi Acheampong (District Court, Dodowa), Mr Samuel Djanie Kotey (District Court, Ejisu), Mr Abdul Baki Abdulai (District Court, Tuobodom) and Mr Bright Ajosagi (District Court, Kodie).
Background
More than 100 members of staff of the Judicial Service have been caught on tape extorting money, receiving bribe or engaging in sex in a three-hour video by Tiger Eye PI, a private investigative company.
The video (detailing the forms the corruption took) shows how 34 of the culprits, said to be judges of the High, Circuit and District courts, took bribes, including goats and foodstuffs.
Some of them have also been linked to sex scandals and extortion in the edited video that emanates from a two-year investigation by the ace investigative journalist, Anas.
Fourteen Circuit Court judges have dragged the Judicial Council to the Fast Track High Court over disciplinary proceedings instituted against them for allegedly receiving bribes to compromise their decisions.
Per their reliefs, the 14 are seeking to halt the work of the Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Council, which is currently gathering facts for onward submission to the Judicial Council.
The plaintiffs are Emmanuel Kofi Sunu, Benjamin Yaw Osei, Kodwo Filson, Seyram Tsatsu Azumah, Isaac Akwantey and Florence Ninepence Otoo.
The others are Jacob Amponsah, Alfred K.A. Mensah, Albert Zoogah, Isaac Amoah, Michael Gyamfi Boamah, Paul Alhassan, Stephen Asuure and William Baffoe.
They are seeking a declaration that the disciplinary proceedings by the Judicial Council against the plaintiffs are contrary to law and/or due process.
Another relief being sought by the plaintiffs is a “declaration that the panel constituted by the Chief Justice to institute disciplinary proceedings against plaintiffs has no legal basis and is, therefore, null and void”.
Eleven justices of the High Court who were also accused of taking bribes were last Thursday given the opportunity to watch the videos after they had submitted written responses to queries.
One of them is out of the jurisdiction and could, therefore, not make it to the screening exercise.
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