As the public debate about the Supreme Court judgment on the infamous Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey government bungalow purchase rages, the judges who came out with the verdict are virtually escaping the lenses of the public.
But it has emerged that something unprecedented happened before the verdict was given out. According to information available to the Enquirer newspaper, the majority of the judges led by Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey did not make available their positions for case conference before making the judgment public, as has always been the case.
The majority’s judgment was received “few minutes” before the Supreme Court panel appeared to give the judgment. Justice William Atuguba, in reading the judgment, confirmed what Justice Brobbey and his colleagues did before the judgment was made public. Justice Atuguba said: “Having received the majority opinion a few minutes to this sitting, I cannot refer or deal much with them.”
The posturing of the majority judges has somehow raised eyebrows as to why the Supreme Court postponed the judgment date from May 9, 2012 to May 22, this year.
Incidentally, the Supreme Court shifted the date for ruling to May 22 from May 23, 2012, because the Justice, who refused to make their opinion available, was to retire on the next day, May 23.
Although, a reason was assigned for the postponement of the judgment date from May 9 to May 22, there is still murmuring within the corridors of the Supreme Court.
Justice Brobbey, who led the majority judges, was educated at Opoku Ware Secondary School in Kumasi and the University of Ghana, where he obtained LL.B degree in 1966. He was called to the Bar in 1967.
After a short stint in private practice at the Bar, Justice Brobbey was employed at the Council for Law Reporting from where he went to England for his post-graduate studies.
Upon his return to the country, he was first appointed a District magistrate Grade One in 1972. In 1979, he was promoted as a Circuit Court judge. Between 1981 and 1986, he was seconded to the Judiciary of Zimbabwe as a legal consultant under the auspices of the Commonwealth Fund Technical Cooperation.
In 1986, he returned to Ghana and was appointed as a Justice of the High Court. In 1991, he was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal.
During the Kufuor administration, he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court. Between 2004 and 2006, he as seconded to the Judiciary of the Gambia as its Chief Justice. He returned in 2006 and resumed his position as the Justice of the Supreme Court.
Until Justice Brobbey’s retirement on May 23, this year, he was the chairman of the Automation Committee of the Ghana Judicial Service, charged with the responsibility of mechanizing courts throughout the country.
Source: The Enquirer
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