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One of the basic tenets of democracy is adherence to the principles of the rule of law. By this, we mean that the process of governance is bound by the law, that the law is supreme and, therefore, the government and all who are subordinated to the law must obey and act in conformity with the law. This implies that all citizens of the land, whether high or low, rich or poor, powerful or weak, and so on, are equal before the law and, therefore, deserve and must be seen to be treated as such. It cannot be denied that for the rule of law to be realised in any society, the judiciary, which has the constructional mandate of interpreting the law, must be free and independent. By judicial independence is meant the freedom of judges to interpret the law fairly and firmly without fear, favour or interference or control from the Executive, the Legislature or any other body. The law, they say, is in the bosom of the judges at this point. Only this week a very important judgement was given by a High Court judge, Justice Iddrisu Mahamadu, in which six policemen and four accomplices were each given 20 years sentence for robbery. For many, it was a landmark case as it involved so many policemen. That they were arrested and even processed and successfully prosecuted signaled the dawn of a new era of justice delivery. Elsewhere and at other times, policemen and other high people flagrantly infringe on the law and do not even come any close to being arrested, let alone being prosecuted and punished. The action, apart from vindicating the prevalence of judicial independence, also spoke volumes on the commitment of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, to fight crime, including from within the police itself. We salute the Police Administration for that good act of self-cleansing, as it will help purge the Police Service of the few bad lots and position the many good and hardworking ones to function effectively to the expectation of the public. It is against this background that we are duly concerned about the threats issued against Justice Mahamadu by some faceless people for doing no other act than his duty of fairly interpreting the law There can be no denying the fact that the intention of these cowards hiding behind anonymous sources to issue the threats is to intimidate and cow into submission Justice Mahamadu and other judges so that justice will be done at the convenience and calling of the blackmailers. We are happy that the IGP, in demonstration of his commitment to respect the rule of law, has already directed that adequate security measures be instituted immediately to protect the judge and his family. We applaud this proactive position of the IGP. W should not take such threats lightly and wait for the harm to be done before we start looking for what went wrong and who did not do what at what time. We wish to appeal to the public to remain vigilant and co-operate with the police by being more forthcoming with information on these threats and other criminals matters so that the police can act expeditiously to protect all of us. We all have a duty to act to prevent a few misguided people from undermining the delivery of justice upon which rests the foundation of peace, law and order and good governance in our society.