The Judges and Magistrates Association of Ghana has officially petitioned the General Legal Council against four top lawyers for claiming that judges and other officers of the Court in the country are corrupt.
In a communiqué signed by the Executive Council of the Association, the Group expressed worry about increasing cases of what it says are unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against the judiciary.
It cited specific comments by the four lawyers, Dr. Raymond Atuguba, Executive Secretary of the Constitution Review Commission, David Annan, a member of the NDC’s legal team, Mr. Laary Bimi, Chairman of the National Commission on Civic Education, and one Lawyer Abrahim Amaliba.
The complainants are requesting the the body that regulates the country’s legal professionals demand that the lawyers provide proof to back up their claims or face sanctions as prescribed by their guidelines.
Dr. Raymond Atuguba, Executive Secretary of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), stated at a forum organized by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), that no one could convince him that judges in Ghana are incorruptible.
“Between 1997 and 1999, I stayed in the house of a judge, and so there is nobody in Ghana who can convince me that judges are not corrupt,” he argued.
To buttress his claim, Dr Atuguba said, whilst living adjacent to a judge he describes as “an upright man” some people who attempted bribing the Judge mistakenly brought the bribes to his father’s door.
“Immediately they mention the title of the case, then you knew that, no, this is not a visitor coming to leave a gift, this is a bribe for the judge next door”.
His colleague lawyer, Abrahim Amaliba, who spoke at the same NCCE event, stated categorically that corruption in the judiciary was no more a perception but a reality.
The NCCE Chairman Laary Bimi and David Annan of the NDC’s Legal Team, are said to have made similar comments published in various news papers and on news websites. Copies of the said articles and stories have been attached to the petition submitted to the General Legal Council.
The Council is the statutory body mandated to regulate legal education, awarding of licenses and discipline of members found to have misconducted themselves particularly in dealing with clients.
The Association says if the four lawyers are able to prove their claims before the Council their accusers will be sanctioned accordingly, whilst failure to prove them will suggest that the allegations are false and that their authors would have been deemed to be spreading rumours to tarnish the reputation of magistrates and judges.
According to the Association, its members have been “suffering in stoic silence” following numerous unsubstantiated allegations against them.
In the meantime, the Magistrates and Judges have threatened to recuse themselves from cases being handled by the four lawyers.
Source: Citifmonline.com/Ghana
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