Asiedu Nketiah: Judicial dictatorship festering under CJ Anin Yeboah
The general secretary of the largest opposition claims that some lawyers with NDC leanings are being harassed for expressing their views
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described what it terms “recent attempts to silence dissenting views” against the Judiciary as very worrying for the country’s democracy.
It follows the petition by the chief justice to the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council to investigate the conduct of Dr Dominic Ayine, a spokesperson of the NDC legal team for the 2020 election petition.
Ayine in a recent panel discussion on presidential election petitions said the continuous dismissal of the petitioner’s applications or reliefs by the Supreme Court in the 2020 election petition was disturbing.
Addressing the media in Accra on Monday 21 June, the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said public confidence in the independence of the judiciary must be earned and not forced on the citizenry.
“Clearly, the opinion expressed by Dr Ayine which we in the NDC share without any equivocation, is not actionable and does not violate any rule or professional conduct rules for lawyers. As a matter of fact, neither Dr Ayine, nor we in the NDC can be compelled to increase our confidence in the independence of the judiciary even when the court has not given us any basis or reason to do so. The Chief Justice ought to be reminded that justice emanates from the people and it is administered on our behalf,” Nketiah said.
He added: “Public confidence in the independence of the judiciary must therefore be earned and not forced on us. We are concerned at the seeming judicial dictatorship that is fast festering under the leadership of the current Chief Justice, an unwelcome development which threatens free speech and could potentially undermine our justice system.”
Attempt to harass NDC lawyers
Nketiah said there is a calculated attempt to silence and harass lawyers within the NDC for expressing their views.
“As you may be aware, only few months ago, some lawyers with NDC leanings, specifically Abraham Amaliba and David Annan, were hauled to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council by the Chief Justice in similar fashion and harassed for expressing their views on the Constitution of the Supreme Court Panel that heard the 2020 Election Petition,” he said.
Also, not long ago, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the NDC MP for South Dayi, received a similar invitation to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council.
Fred Dzakpata
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