There can't be justice for Ya-Na with Kufuor judges in place

Former president Rawlings cries with people of Dagbon for justice

Former President Jerry Rawlings says the quest to seek justice for the Andanis will remain elusive so long as the courts remain packed with what he describes as corrupt cronies of former President J.A. Kufuor.

He was speaking in Tamale during an unannounced visit to interact with chiefs and aggrieved Andanis incensed at last Tuesday's acquittal of 15 persons standing trial in connection with the murder of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II.

A leader of the Andani royal gate, Lawyer Ibrahim Mahama told a rally held for Mr. Rawlings, that President Mills will have to wake up from his slumber and give Dagbon justice.

He said the Andanis were ready to die if the killers of the Ya-Na were not found.

To former president Rawlings, Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama said the people of Dagbon were “grateful to your Excellency that you have come to wipe [our] tears... We are ready to go with you so we get justice.”

Former President Rawlings said government's failure to purge the nation of immorality is the cause of the injustices being witnessed.

“Today, the Supreme Court – not just the Supreme Court a lot of these court houses – are loaded and packed with corrupt cronies of Kufuor; how do you expect to get justice from some of these corrupt elements,” Mr Rawlings intimated.

He warned the repercussions could be grave if President Mills does not ensure a just and free society.

Mr Rawlings said while the late Ya-Na and Issa Mobilla were not his family relations, he owed it a responsibility to ensure the families of the deceased got justice.

He stressed that, “If we cannot ensure that justice is done to the Ya-Na, justice is done to Mobilla…then none of us are safe in the country.”

According to him, the people of Dagbon were not interested in the money that had blinded the people in power. Instead what they yearned for was justice and the government must give it to them.

The former President also expressed sympathy to the family of the young man who died in last Tuesday's disturbances in Tamale.