Ghanaian Institutions Hate To Be Told The Critical Truth--Raymond Atuguba

University of Ghana Law Professor Raymond Atuguba is not surprised at the negative reaction his latest study on the judiciary has elicited.

He said it is abundantly obvious that anytime critical analyses are conducted, they meet opposition from interest groups who may not be pleased with the findings.

He has suggested the bitter reaction to his research, which analysed the voting pattern of Supreme Court judges from 1993 to 2018, is normal.

The research analysed some political cases settled by the apex court and revealed on matters "where the law is not clear" the judges are divided along the ideologies of the political party that appointed them.

But some Supreme Court judges have questioned the conclusion of the research and cautioned the law lecturer against the importation of American way of life into the Ghanaian society.

"Under the Constitution, a judge will be appointed during somebody's time...and that somebody will belong to one party or the other," Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo replied Prof Atuguba.

Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo
To another Supreme Court judge Justice Jones Dotse, the findings of the report constitute "an insult of the highest order" and asked the lecturer to tone down his words.

But the negative reaction from the judiciary is not new to Prof Atuguba, saying "words are just nothing to me".

"The first time I did a critical analysis of the police the next morning eight fully armed officers were dispatched by the IGP to arrest me from my office," he said.

He has done another research on all the Ministers who have served the country from 1993 to 2018 and cross-tabulated their ethnic background with the presidents who appointed them.

The result, he said is staggering but he is not releasing it now because of possible backlash from the public.

"What should we do with these analyses? Should we stop doing them, should we have another way of funnelling it to the public, what should we do?" he asked.

"I will never insult anyone, not to talk of the judges, I am engaged in a critical analysis of our political institutions [and] critical analysis always meets opposition," he added.

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