Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho, strongly criticized recent remarks made by former President John Dramani Mahama regarding the alleged partisanship of the judiciary. Anyidoho, a vocal critic of Mahama and his bid for the presidency in 2024, emphasized that Mahama’s perspective does not align with the stances of former NDC presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Evans Atta Mills.
Mahama had previously urged NDC lawyers to take up positions within the judiciary to counter what he perceived as the government’s manipulation of the courts. Anyidoho vehemently opposed this viewpoint, considering it not only alarming but also detrimental to the stability of Ghana’s democracy.
Anyidoho conveyed his concerns through a series of tweets posted on September 2, 2023, shortly after Mahama’s address to a gathering of NDC lawyers. He expressed heartfelt distress over the situation, particularly because of President Atta-Mills’ firm stance against politicizing the law. Anyidoho argued that Mahama’s proposed approach, which involved appointing political lawyers to the judiciary, would not contribute anything new and emphasized that Ghana should not seek vengeance.
In his tweets, Anyidoho strongly condemned the idea of brazenly politicizing the justice system, warning that it could lead the country down a perilous path of moral decay. As a committed member of the NDC, he stressed his non-support for such a mindset. Additionally, he raised concerns about the lack of focus on concrete plans for building a better Ghana, instead emphasizing the obsession with “balancing the equation” within the judiciary, particularly under the leadership of JJ Rawlings. This, according to Anyidoho, filled him with deep apprehension about the future of the nation if such an approach were to prevail.
What Mahama said:
“You can see what the current president has done, he has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting,” he noted in a virtual address to the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the NDC on Saturday, September 2.
“He has packed the court and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office. We must be prepared as NDC legal persons to also go onto the bench so that we can balance out the judiciary.
“Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people on to the bench.
“So, I encourage some of you to look at careers on the bench so that we can balance out what the current situation is,” he added.
The issue of appointments onto the bench has been topical under this government with allegations that politically exposed people have been appointed by the president.
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