The Bastardization Of The Judiciary Under President Nana Akuffo Addo? The University Of Education Winneba Saga

When Nana Akuffo Addo was elected as the President of Ghana, we those in civil society were gratified and encouraged that for once, we will have someone at the helm of affairs whose background was in civil and human rights. Nana, as we call him was a champion of ensuring that the rights of individuals were respected and he is on record to have fought oppression anywhere it was found in Ghana. Nana fought for the rights of even those who disagreed with him and were not even from his tribe. That is the Nana Akuffo Addo we knew. Fast forward, the same Nana is now sitting at the tiller of affairs and innocent individuals are summarily dismissed without due justice. The same Nana, is watching aloof whilst the substantive VC at UEW has been dismissed without any cause, and has been replaced by a fraud with fake publications in the name of Aful-Broni.

When this Winneba issue first started, the leading protagonist was Afenyo Markins. All along his ulterior motive was to wrestle control of the University and appoint lackeys that will do his bidding. Whilst this was going on, he was able to collude with the corrupt Judges at the Winneba High Court to join the cabal. UTAG was able to have some relief at the Supreme Court. However, the ruling left in place the decision of the jaundiced Council. Mind you, these so called Council members were recommended to the Minister of Education by Afenyo Markins. Inevitably, they had to follow his instructions.

When the VC and colleagues were asked to step aside under some variegated reasons, they filed a suit at the High Court in Cape Coast. The reason the suit was filed at Cape Coast was because every Kwame and Ama in Winneba knew that Afenyo Markins had bought all the Judges in town. It was on record that the Judge in Cape Coast was upright, honest and straightforward. Everyone thought the tentacles of Afenyo Markins will not extend to Cape Coast. Little did people know that the Efutu MP, with the support of the Unknown NPP wigs, the Minister of Education and others had being bamboozled into being part of this dappled plot.

As the plot thickened, the Cape Coast Judge made several pronouncements especially, with regards to the prohibition of UEW Council members to refrain from certain acts that will be conceived as trampling on the human rights of the substantive VC and his colleagues. In a rather quixotic fashion, the Council members, Abakah and Aful- Broni disregarded the edicts of the court. The questions my people are? If we truly have an objective, and independent Attorney General, a Human Rights Lawyer as the President of Ghana, and the separation of powers, with the three branches being equal, where did the UEW Council get the buoyancy and the temerity to disregard the instructions of the Cape Coast Judge with impunity?. The High Courts in Winneba and Cape Coast are filled with witticisms.

The Attorney General must immediately seek judicial review of all the cases related to the UEW saga. Be that as it may, when the litigants went to court to finally seek redress, the Cape Coast High Court Judge said in open court that he was washing his hands off the case due to a delude of political heaviness and interference. Soon after, this same Judge was transferred to Kumasi. Such audacity and oppression only happens under military dictatorship and in nations that are not democratic. Who deployed political pressure? Who transferred the Judge to Kumasi? These are questions the Attorney General must answer. The ongoing situation reminds me of, perhaps the President being misled by those he has appointed to high office; and other people around him, who have been infiltrated by Afenyo Markins

What is most intriguing and problematic to capture is the appointment of Aful- Broni to a position that he always wanted but fate did not allow him to wear the crown. And for the President to be invited to an investiture, knowing full well that there are illegalities surrounding this mischief and there are law suits in Cape Coast, Accra and the Apex court with regards to this very appointment is inexplicable. Like I indicated earlier, it is either that the President is not being told the truth, or he is part of the grand design. I want to believe that Nana Akuffo-Addo is still at core a human rights lawyer. In sum, a bad precedence is being set in the annals of Ghana’s academic community and Jurisprudence.

This nonsense and injustice has to be stopped immediately. And the President, the Attorney General and the Courts of the land should stop this caricature, unless, of course, Ghana has decided to show the world that justice is not blind and Ghanaians are not equal when it comes to equal rights, freedom and justice. We are watching closely how this saga will unfold. Ghanaians are watching and the World is also watching.