Former President John Mahama delivered a public lecture on the judiciary in Accra over the weekend. In his lecture, the former President described how the public has lost trust in the judiciary. John Mahama called for an urgent cleansing of the judiciary but under a new chief justice.
But a retired appeals court judge, Justice Douse didn’t take kindly the advise of Mr. Mahama. He said the former President was only trying to drag the judiciary into the mug. He cautioned that such attacks on the 3rd arm of government threatens Ghana’s democracy.
But NDC wouldn’t take any of that. In a strong worded reaction, the General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has asked Justice Douse to burry his head in shame. He said Mr. Mahama just like any Ghanaian has the right to comment on any national issue.
He said in the recent past, two think tanks have concluded that the public confidence in the judiciary has reduced from 56% in 2016 to less than 30% in 2021. General Mosquito asked Justice Douse where he was during 2020 Election Petition when Ghanaians described the supreme court as Unanimous FC. He told the judge to recall what the national security ministry said about justice delivery system in Ghana because that is the real threat to Ghana’s democracy.
Check of the letter below.
“First and foremost, the so-called caution to H.E. John Mahama not to ‘drag the image of the Supreme Court in the mud’, in our view, is completely misplaced. There is sufficient evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, available to prove that citizens’ trust in the judiciary which also includes the Supreme Court is on a gradual decline. This phenomenon cannot be blamed on anyone else but the judiciary itself.
We wish to refer Justice Douse to the findings of the recently published Afrobarometer report by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) which revealed that citizens’ trust in the judiciary has declined by 21 percentage points from 57 percent in 2012 to 36 percent in 2022. The 2020 Mo Ibrahim Governance Index made similar observations. This, in our view, is what should be a source of worry to Justice Douse and people who reason like him and not the caution from former President. Mahama who is merely re-echoing the general sentiments of Ghanaians about the judiciary.
The outburst of the learned justice makes us wonder if he was in Ghana during the 2020 Presidential election petition hearings where the Supreme Court became a subject of mockery as ‘Unanimous SC’ due to its predictability with respect to its decisions.
We criticize the executive and parliament so why do people think that the judiciary is above criticism? It is trite practice that judgments of courts of competent jurisdiction are subject to critique. Therefore, citizens reserve the right to do this. It is part of measures to ensure judicial accountability as all institutions the judiciary are subject to the constitution. judiciary is uncomfortable with that then it has to take steps to reform and change the growing negative public perceptions about it.”
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