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05.09.2014 Editorial

Impetus For Chaos

By Daily Guide
Impetus For Chaos
05.09.2014 LISTEN

President John Mahama
President John Mahama has added to the loss of confidence in the Supreme Court's ability to adjudicate in election disputes.

His recent remark, 'You cannot get from the courts what you did not get from the people,' was as disappointing as it was scathing, coming from a defendant in a suit which held the country spellbound and triggered questions about the ability of the judiciary to adjudicate in political matters.

In fact, it dealt the image of the Supreme Court such a massive blow it would take a major structural repair to restore the status quo: it has prompted catalogues of varying interpretations from baffled authorities.

A ruling which befuddled rather than unknot an election dispute and prepared the grounds for future polling day chaos, should not have a President who benefitted from the questionable polls, pass such remarks which border more on irresponsibility than decency.

Unnecessary as it was, we are at our wits' end as to what pushed the President to revisit a vexed subject which reminds many Ghanaians about the day the Supreme Court crashed and opened a fresh page in misjudgement.

We were not surprised when many with a sense of the history of the judiciary in the country, equated it with the obnoxious 'Re:Akoto verdict.' The many who did so have not been disputed.

A nervous defendant as he was prior to the judgment by the Presiding Judge, by this remark, seeks to among other things, suggest that he knew the outcome of the presidential election petition before it was delivered.

Whether he was given a certain level of assurance about the way the pendulum of justice was going to tilt according to the panel, our concern today is more about the effect of the remark on the waning confidence of Ghanaians in the courts, especially political cases.

A dissection of President John Mahama's remark also suggests that there is no way a Supreme Court can judge in favour of a plaintiff in an election petition hearing when the defendant as President, is the beneficiary of a flawed election process – abundant evidence notwithstanding.

Many literally shed tears when the Presiding Judge cleared his throat over and over again before reading the terse ruling. And this is what the President seeks to celebrate by his smelly remark.

It behoves all Ghanaians—irrespective of their positions and political allegiances—to be wary of actions and remarks which have the tendency to deepen the mistrust between the people, especially politicians and the judiciary.

As a major bastion of our democracy, when the President adds to the woes of the judiciary a situation created by persons inclined to partisanship, regardless of the oaths they swore, we can only bow our heads in disappointment.

Shouldn't the President spare the inconvenience of such painful reminders, unless he is sadism inclined?

 
 
 
 

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