The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah says the Chief Justice is going down a slippery slope towards dictatorship insisting the opposition will not allow judicial tyranny to thrive in the country.
“Our constitution and laws protect the integrity and the independence of the judiciary and not the sensibilities of Judges,” Mr. Asiedu Nketiah told a Press conference in Accra Monday.
This comes on the back of the invitation of the Bolga East lawmaker to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council following the Chief Justice’s petition.
Former Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine has been hauled before the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council for allegedly questioning the independence of Ghana’s Judiciary.
Dr. Dominic Ayine recently questioned the independence of the judiciary due to the manner the Supreme Court adjudicated the 2020 election petition.
According to him, the Supreme Court’s failure to apply the rules of procedure as well as the consistent and continuous dismissal of petitioner’s applications or reliefs were the basis of his assertion.
“Adjudication is the process of accountability. So for me, it is okay to dismiss an application brought by a petitioner for one relief or the other whether substantive or procedural.
“But it is another thing to fail to apply the rules of procedure in a manner that enhances the accountability process. So at the end of the day, the petition actually dampened my hopes with respect to the independence of the judiciary and its ability to hold the Electoral Commission, in particular, accountable in election petitions,” he stressed at a CDD-Ghana Roundtable Discussion on ‘Presidential Election Petitions and their Impact on Africa’s Democracy’.
Commenting further on the woes of the Former Deputy AG, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah said the action taken against Dr. Ayine is just an attempt by the Chief Justice to intimidate and suppress views that are at variance with his own views.
He warned that Ghana’s constitutional democracy will suffer a grave setback if the disciplinary committee of the GLC proceeds to hold an enquiry into the matter.
