Gary Nimako, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Director of Legal Affairs, has slammed former President John Dramani Mahama, warning him not to undermine the courts.
On Saturday, September 2, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo purposefully appointed the most judges to the bench in order to have people who will do his bidding when he is out of office, and urged NDC members to “balance out” the bench.
Mr. Mahama claimed, “Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people onto the bench.”
Gary Nimako noted on Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu that such statements have the potential to undermine Ghanaians’ trust in the country’s judicial system.
As a result, he cautioned the former president to be mindful of any future statements concerning the judiciary, calling them as “unfortunate.”
The Director of Legal Affairs of the NPP rubbished claims that appointee judges are doing the bidding of President Akufo-Addo.
“It’s very unfortunate, it exposes their lack of understanding of how the court system works, they are making it appear as if the court deals with only political cases. President Akufo-Addo has built over 100 quarters across the country, shouldn’t they be staffed by human beings, judges, and staff? Who is saying that the judges are party people? What is the check to say those there are party people? There’s no appointee serving the interest of the president. It was the same courts that made former president Mahama the president, isn’t it? The same Supreme Court, in 2013, at that time was the court a political court?”
He emphasised,
“Let’s be careful not to destroy our institutions of state. The judiciary is a very sensitive institution in the history of our country. I’m not comfortable at all with the way former president Mahama is running the judiciary down. Let’s be very careful as Ghanaians, else, people will lose interest and confidence in the judiciary and say well if that is the case, they will take the law into their hands and will not go to court. Let’s be very careful as a country. If we destroy the judiciary, it’s a very dangerous precedent we are doing for ourselves. It’s a very serious matter we must look at. How do you say that we should balance an equation? Even if what you are saying is true, we should pack the courts with NDC members when you get power. How do you say that?”
He questioned whether the NDC, if elected, will establish new courts since they are skeptical of the present judiciary.
“Do you know that the NDC two-term 2009 MP for Amenfi Central is a high court judge in the Volta Region? If we decide to run the institutions down, it will not help. Will they create their own courts when they come to power?” he asked.
Gary Nimako emphasised that cases not backed by evidence are likely to be thrown out of court.
“Before you go to court, your evidence must be solid. You go to court without evidence, your case is thrown away and you come and say it’s politics. I don’t think the court is politicized now. What I think strongly is that if you are going to the court, go with a solid case. If you go with a solid case, you will hear good news from the judges. But if it’s a bad case, you will lose,” he pointed out.
