Ghana Bar Association condemns Akufo-Addo comments against Mahama

• President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was criticised by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) for dabbling in politics when he spoke to attendees at the 23rd Ghana Bar Association Annual Conference in Cape Coast.

Former President John Dramani Mahama had previously said that the judiciary was filled with justices who supported the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which was also denounced by President Akufo-Addo.

By selecting attorneys who share his political leanings, the 2024 National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer promised to strike a balance.

This was strongly denounced by President Akufo-Addo at the Conference on Monday, September 11.

These ideas of ‘NPP’ and ‘NDC’ judges are not only novel in our public discourse, but they are also quite dangerous and represent the most blatant attack on the independence of the judiciary by any ostensibly responsible politician in the Fourth Republic,’ he said.

“They give yet another reason, if more were needed, why right-thinking citizens should ensure the demise in 2024 of the man who the first Special Prosecutor identified as Government Official No. 1 in the still open Airbus Bribery Scandal,” the author writes.

however, mentioning Ghana Saviour Kudze, the Association’s public relations officer (PRO), suggested that the President went too far tonight on TV3.

“Regarding today’s comments that the President made relative to the condemnation of what [former] President Mahama said in respect of the allegation regarding the packing of the bench by the current President of people he described as NPP-inclined judges, I think we will not fault the President for that because already we have gone ahead to condemn that same statement,” he said.

“However, to go ahead and say that because of that and other factors, citizens should reject him by 2024, we condemn that because we wouldn’t like any politician to use our platform for political campaigning because that amounted to it,” the statement continued.

The legal professional also questioned the President’s justification for referring to Mr. Mahama as a “perennial” candidate, pointing out that the term better describes him given that he has run for office multiple times in the past.

“In general, that is not accurate, and we will not consent to the present President using our platform to disparage his political rivals. He just so happened to be a lawyer who had regularly attended our conferences before to becoming office.

He cleared the Association of any wrongdoing, claiming that it typically does not get the chance to hear the presentations of guests at such gatherings.