Ayariga Fires Back: Tribunals Not a Witch‑Hunt — NPP Fears Are Misplaced

Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has dismissed claims that the proposed tribunal system is a political weapon designed to target members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), insisting the initiative is purely aimed at speeding up justice delivery.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, July 17, Ayariga questioned why the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would create a system solely to persecute opponents when political power is never permanent.

“When they say, ‘Oh, we are setting it up to try NPP people, to use it for political persecution,’ as if NDC is going to be in power forever. No. NDC is not likely to be in power forever,” he said.

He argued that any tribunal structure established today would remain in place for future governments — including the NPP — making accusations of targeted persecution illogical.

“So, if we set up a system for our opponents; when we leave office, the system will still be there for them to also use against us,” he added.

Ayariga explained that the tribunals are being introduced to tackle long‑standing delays in the traditional court system and ensure faster adjudication of specific criminal cases. He said the current judicial process has been widely criticised for slow trials, and the new framework is intended to force quicker resolution of matters.

“They feel that the traditional courts are slow and so, if you look at this law that we are passing, we have sought to force them to expedite the adjudication of matters, the trial of cases. So, this is fundamentally what the tribunal system tries to deal with,” he stated.

Parliament has passed the Tribunals Bill, 2026, after completing its third reading. The legislation seeks to reintroduce regional tribunals under a revised legal framework aimed at strengthening justice administration and improving access to legal remedies.