Judges Lace Boots

In the latest bout of politically-motivated attacks on the judiciary, members of the bench and staff of the Judicial Service, rarely heard in the media, have kicked against the trend describing them as cowardly and barbaric. Serving notice of their readiness to stand by the Chief Justice and the judicial reforms she is undertaking, the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) and the Judicial Service Association of Ghana (JUSAG), have left nobody in doubt about their steadfastness and willingness to call the bluff of their aggressors this time round. A joint statement they issued on 29th June 2011 on the subject was signed on their behalf by Justice Joseph Akamba, President, AMJG, Justice Elizabeth Ankumah, Secretary, AMJG, Messrs Adia Abdul-Latif, National President, JUSAG and Ato Quansah, General Secretary. They have condemned the recent attacks on the Chief Justice and members of the judiciary by a certain Network of Social Democrats which has threatened to compel the lady to leave through the window if, as they put it, she does not do so through the door. �We condemn in no uncertain terms the mischievous incessant attacks on the judiciary and the Judicial Service and we will strongly resist any attempt to remove the Chief Justice by any unconstitutional and cruel means,� the statement mentioned. To members of the judiciary and staff of the Judicial Service, the statement urged them to remain steadfast and perform their duties regardless of the threats. The statement recalled the various attacks from a section of the public under varying names, the latest being the Network of Social Democrats, describing the trend as unwarranted and unjustified. Such persons, the association noted, hide behind an assortment of groupings, adding that their enterprise threatens the rule of law. �We, as members of the judiciary and the Judicial Service are not above criticism. We however have a sacred duty to God and mother Ghana to render justice which we will do to the best of our ability without fear or favour,� they stated. Ghanaians, they counseled, should avoid peddling falsehood and mischievous comments as the tendency, they posited �can lead us into tearing down the very institutions that the good people of this country have mandated under our Constitution to safeguard our current constitutional dispensation.� They have entrusted the security of the Chief Justice, judges, magistrates and staff of the Judicial Service in the hands of the Government and the IGP. Following their invitation by the Police, the Network of Social Democrats, a phony organization said to have close links to a political party in the country, has revised its statement to the Chief Justice. In a statement following the public outcry to their threat to the Chief Justice, they explained that they were misunderstood. In a regime with a history of killing cases, it is doubtful whether the Police would press charges against the suspects behind the threat, especially with their closeness to the governing party. Three leading members of the group are on police bail after being charged for threatening the life of the CJ with their statement that if the Justice Georgina Wood refuses to step down, she will be chased through a narrow window. The group, led by one Rudolph Rafik Awankua, at a press conference at the Ghana International Press Centre gave the Chief Justice a 14-day ultimatum to resign her position or incur their wrath, adding �the Chief Justice must exit through the broad door or forced out through the narrow window, Perhaps it would be allowed to die a natural death deliberately starved of the oxygen of a follow-up. The Ghana Bar Association and indeed the country celebrated on Thursday, what is now an annual celebration in the legal calendar-Martyrs Day- in commemoration of the murder of three high court judges 29 years ago. The military junta at the time was fingered in the cruel act which took place during curfew hours. In his sermon to commemorate Martyrs Day on Thursday, Most Reverend Dr. Justice Ofei Akrofi, Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa, Anglican Episcopal noted that it appears that those behind the murder have not shown remorse. His remark was definitely prompted by recent attacks on the judiciary and perhaps the obscene �many ways of killing a cat� refrain originating from the NDC Chairman, whose party is an offshoot of the PNDC junta thought to be responsible for the murder of the judges.