Gabby Otchere Darko, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has queried why some judges will side with the police when they are rather supposed to protect the people and the constitution.
His comments comes on the back of an injunction which was secured from the court by the police after Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) and other groups requested to picket at the office of the Electoral Commission. The groups notified the police of their intention to picket at the EC office in agitation for a new voters register.
However, the Ghana Police Service turned down their request since according to them, the EC office was a security zone. Subsequently, the police secured an injunction and gave LMVCA different routes for their protests.
Speaking to the issue, Gabby said: “some of our judges are not helping us…everybody has a constitutional right to demonstrate. Public orders act says you should notify the police. The group notified the police and then they (police) come to you that it is a security zone so they should choose Hearts Park and you accept…it creates the impression that the duty of the judge is to help the police to restrict the expression of the rights of Ghanaians…”
“...the judges should know that sometimes they don’t help the course of this country; they don’t protect our constitutional right. They help the police to step on people’s rights and I don’t think that is fair; it is not fair to the position that they hold, they are supposed to be the fountain of justice and their first duty is to protect the constitution; not to grant the police to step on people’s constitutional rights,” he told Kwami Sefa Kayi in an interview on PeaceFM's "Kokrokoo".
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