There is no doubt that government needs to win a court case – and fast. So far, in its bid to justifiably prosecute officials of the Kufuor regime perceived to have engaged in corruption, the Mills administration has suffered more humiliation than any government can bear.
If it were a boxing arena, you would say government has suffered too many blinding jabs, jaw-breaking upper cuts and technical knockouts – all from a southpaw.
Sometimes, it’s been forced to simply throw-in the towel, bleeding from puffy eyes and enlarged nostrils. It’s not a pretty sight and the administration and its supporters are worried. Who wouldn’t when the spectacle makes it seem like government is being led in these legal battles by a bunch of teenagers who have just gained admission into a university to read for an LLB.
- Advertisement -
In the face of the disturbing legal battering government has suffered, a friend of mine recently asked: “is the [government] being advised by a crack team of lawyers or a team of lawyers on crack?”
It’s a good question, which demands urgent answers if the Mills administration is going to be able to come out of its corner to put up a winnable legal performance to win at least one case against members of Kufuor’s looting brigade.
I look forward to that. Many Ghanaians do.
It seems however that the government and the ruling party are in no mood to play it fair. It is quite disturbing that instead of putting their act together to come out and fight clean, some government officials and the leadership of the ruling party appear ready to employ underhand tactics and they have no qualms about hitting below the belt to get what they desperately need – a legal victory.
They started off with the suggestion that the Attorney General, whom I like to call a friend, is losing her cases because her office is filled with saboteurs connected with the main opposition party. This spurious claim came from none other than the deputy general secretary of the NDC, Kofi Adams.
When Adams’ argument fell flat, the party decided to grab at any straw that came it way. So they decided to turn their attention on the judges.
Now, they are claiming that the government is losing its cases because the judiciary is filled with judges who are NPP loyalists and therefore as long as they remain on the bench, the government might never win a case. That’s why you hear the chairman of the NDC, Kwabena Adjei, who used to be a very wise guy proclaiming that his party will “clean” up the judiciary.
“There are many ways to kill a cat,” he added, speaking like a like a man on crack and hemp who has suffered irreparable brain damage!
I don’t know what Kwabena Adjei means by “we will clean [the judiciary] and let everybody everywhere blame us for interfering with the judiciary and we will take them on.”
But I hope it’s just silly bragging because I don’t see how the NDC can “clean” up the judiciary. President Mills can’t sack the chief justice and he can’t reverse the appointment of any judges. The most they can do is do as Kufuor did – stuff the bench. Even so, they will hardly win any poorly prosecuted case.
Cleaning up the judiciary may also mean something the NDC’s antecedent is well-noted for. I get the impression that if the NDC had its way, they would kidnap a few judges and kill them – revolutionary style.
To make matters worse, you get a retired Supreme Court judge, Kpegah, who is supposed to know better, spewing a lot of BS in support of Kwabena Adjei’s virulent nonsense.
The nonsense must stop. This country does not belong to the NDC and its hoodlums alone. Their foot-soldiers have been allowed to attack anything from public toilet to offices of government agencies. They got away with it and so now their leaders think they can also seize the courts. Ghanaians will not allow them destroy one of the key institutions of our nation and our democracy – the judiciary.
No one is saying we have a perfect judiciary. But we don’t have a perfect executive either. Parliament is even worse. But no one is demanding a cleansing of the judiciary and parliament with the kind of vitriol, Kwabena Adjei and the senile Justice Kpegah have resorted to. It is this same judiciary, supposedly stuffed with NPP loyalists, which delivered a ruling that secured electoral victory for the NDC after the presidential polls in 2008. Yes, the judiciary is not perfect. But it’s an institution we need to build – with human beings who may have political sympathies for one party or another.
If the NDC cannot play intelligently in court to fairly win cases, they should just give up and concede that they do not have the requisite legal brains. Ghanaians will understand. But we will never forgive anyone who dares to fiddle with the judiciary in a desperate attempt to win one or two court cases. By all means, we are all in support of holding thieving former government officials to account. But judicial manipulation will not be tolerated. Those who think it’s the only way out for the government must have their brains cleansed.
