Award-winning investigative Ghanaian journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has taken a swipe at President Nana Akufo-Addo for going after John Dramani Mahama over a comment he made about the judiciary recently.
On September 2, 2023, Mr. Mahama stated at the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) annual lawyers conference that President Akufo-Addo had appointed the most judges to Ghana.
He said “He has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting. He has packed the court, and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office.”
Mr. Mahama, therefore, urged the NDC lawyers to prepare themselves for similar appointments when he ascends to the presidency again.
Nana Akufo-Addo fired Mahama over his comment President Akufo-Addo responded to Mr. Mahama’s remark at the 23rd Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Conference in Cape Coast on September 10, stating that the attack was “extremely dangerous” to the independence of the judiciary.
“I have gone into this matter in detail because of a new issue which has been introduced into our public discourse by no less a public figure than the fourth president of the fourth republic, John Dramani Mahama, who has told the world that I have packed the courts with so-called NPP judges and that one of the key purposes a putative NDC victory in 2024 will be to enable him to balance the courts with so-called NDC judges.”
“Not only are these concepts new in our public discourse but they are also extremely dangerous and represent the brazen attack on the independence of the judiciary by allegedly responsible politicians,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo therefore urged the public to hold Mr. Mahama accountable for his “reckless” comments that are aimed at undermining the Judiciary.
However, in a post on his Facebook platform, Mannaseh justified Mahama’s comment and reminded the president about an infamous precedent he himself set in the past that merited the comment from the National Democratic Congress flagbearer. He posted;
The man who yanked a 2016 NPP parliamentary candidate from a campaign platform to the High Court in 2020 and promoted him to the Supreme Court in 2022 should not be blaming others for undermining a judiciary that has long been accused of taking sides politically. If your indiscretion and packing the bench do not undermine the judiciary, then John Mahama, who is saying it, cannot undermine the judiciary.
