Ghanaians losing confidence in the judiciary — Prof Gyampo
Professor Ransford Gyampo, a senior political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has said Ghanaians are losing confidence in the ability of the courts to dispense justice in the country.
Professor Ransford Gyampo, a senior political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has said Ghanaians are losing confidence in the ability of the courts to dispense justice in the country.
According to him, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in cases bordering on the state and other parties that come before it has made the citizens lose faith in the judiciary arm of government.
"Is it always the case that every time a case is brought before the judge, between the ruling party and those in opposition, every now and then, the ruling party has a strong case and the opposition has a very bogus case? Can it always be so?" he quizzed.
"Clearly, there are some Ghanaians who are also losing confidence in the Judiciary and this is a major national security threat. The unanimity with which they take their decisions in favour of the ruling party creates an impression, it may be erroneous, but creates an impression that something untoward is happening," Prof Gyampo said on Joy News on Wednesday, April 13, 2022.
He stated that "justice must not only be done" but must also be "perceived to be done".
He has also called on Ghanaians to trust the words of the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah, who said a biased judiciary is a national security threat.
"Kan Dapaah is not a small boy. He is the National Security Minister. He is privy to information those who are criticising him do not know. He employed people and knows where he gets his information as a Security Minister, he knows what he is talking about," he stressed.
Prof Gyampo advised Ghanaians "not to offer partisan defenses and opposition to everything.” “There should be an elite consensus on some of these things."
At a sensitisation workshop on the national security strategy for judges of the superior courts, Kan-Dapaah said: "Injustice occasioned, as a result of the absence of an effective justice delivery system or delayed justice or biased justice is certainly a threat to national security."
He warned that "Indeed, when injustice abounds, particularly in situations where the bench, which is considered the final arbiter of disputes, is deemed biased, citizens tend to take the law into their own hands most times without recourse to the established systems of justice delivery."
