A justice of the High Court of Ghana, Mr. Justice Iddrisu Mahamadu, says that his life is in danger following the trial and conviction of the six policemen and four civilians for robbery over which he presided.
The threat to Justice Mahamadu�s life was reported to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye, by the Chief Justice, Mrs. Justice Georgina wood last week.
In her report, Mrs. Justice Wood conveyed to the IGP that following the conviction of the six policemen and four civilians, Justice Mahamadu had received numerous threats to his life.
Consequently, the IGP has directed the Operations Department of the Ghana Police Service to take immediate steps to protect the life, family and property of the High Court judge.
Last Tuesday, Mr. Justice Mahamadu convicted the six policemen, including Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Patrick Kwapong of the Rapid Deployment Force of the Ghana Police Service, and four other civilians to a total of 200 years after they had been found guilty of attacking and robbing a Switzerland-based Ghanaians businessman at a hotel in Accra on February 2, 2009.
We at the Daily Searchlight are appalled at the emerging revelations, where a Justice of our Courts would come out to say that his life and that of his family were in danger because of decisions that he took on the bench.
Even though Ghana is no stranger to violence targeted at judges and magistrates, it is a culture that many assumed had ended, following the murder many years ago of the three High Court Judges.
Indeed, it is in the light of what has happened before in our judicial history that this newspaper calls on the
Inspector General of Police and all who matter in these affairs to ensure that the affected judge is protected! A gain, all efforts must be made to identify the people responsible for sending the threatening messages in order to bring them to book!
Ghana is growing and advancing in democratic tenets, and we cannot allow such behaviour to mar out forward march to progress!
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