Resign and Formally Join NDC- NPP to Chief Justice

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana to retract what it describes as partisan political commentary or resign from the Bench and formally join the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

This follows a video circulating publicly in which the Chief Justice is heard offering comparative political commentary to the effect that the current NDC government and its appointed CEOs are performing better than the eight years of the previous NPP administration.

“The New Patriotic Party has taken note, with profound shock and disgust, of a video… Let it be stated plainly: this is not the language of a Chief Justice. It is the language of a party propagandist, of a kind exclusively reserved for NDC communicators and serial callers,” the party said in a statement.

The NPP argues that Articles 125 and 127 of the 1992 Constitution establish the Judiciary as an independent arm of government, and that the judicial oath binds the Chief Justice to do justice to all persons without fear or favour.

The party said the video is not an isolated lapse but the culmination of a pattern, alleging that the Chief Justice has become a familiar presence at the functions of political appointees of the government.

“A Chief Justice who travels and celebrates as a courtier of the Executive cannot thereafter sit as a neutral umpire in cases to which the Executive is a party. He has presented himself not as the impartial head of an independent Judiciary but as a leading member of the National Democratic Congress in judicial robes,” the party stated.

The NPP further questioned the Chief Justice’s declared vow that everything must be done to ensure the President’s agenda succeeds, linking it to Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), under which it said persons associated with the NPP are being arraigned before courts presided over by the Chief Justice.

The statement also accused the Judiciary under the current Chief Justice of dispensing justice at two speeds, citing what it described as the issuance of vacation warrants in political cases involving NPP members and the incarceration of Chairman Wontumi as evidence.

“We cannot overlook the ironical part… that several courts and offices of the Judiciary lie in disarray: courtrooms crumbling, registries overwhelmed and staff labouring under conditions that directly affect justice delivery,” the NPP added, accusing the Chief Justice of failing to visit ailing courts or propose reforms while touring state agencies.

The party is demanding that the Chief Justice immediately and unreservedly retract his partisan commentary and his vow of loyalty to the President’s agenda, or resign and formally join the NDC. It also demanded that the President immediately fill the Council of State vacancy and publicly disavow any arrangement touching the Chief Justice’s post-retirement future.

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