Anthony Namoo, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has waded into the controversy surrounding the comments made by Kan Dapaah, the National Security Minister.
Mr Namoo said the Minister’s made those comments bereft of advanced legal knowledge.
He shared these sentiments when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
It would be recalled that Mr Kan Dapaah, speaking at a sensitisation workshop on the national security strategy for judges of the superior courts, warned that the perception that the judiciary is biased has dire consequences on the country’s security.
He said if this is not checked, it will compel the citizenry to take the law into their own hands for personal satisfaction with the bench deemed biased.
“Injustice occasioned as a result of the absence of an effective justice delivery system or delayed justice or biased justice is certainly a threat to national security.
“Indeed, when injustice abounds, particularly in situations where the bench, which is considered the final arbiter of disputes, is deemed biased, citizens tend to take the law into their own hands most times without recourse to the established systems of justice delivery,” he said.
He added, “If the interpretation of the law is tilted in our favour all the time, people will start accusing the judiciary and will not have the confidence that they need.”
Mr. Namoo disagreed with the position of the National Security Minister. He explained, “he [Kan Dapaah] is not speaking as a lawyer. As a lawyer, when a case goes to court, it is not just the final verdict; how they arrive at it is very important”.
“You can see that he was playing to the gallery. You remember this NDC tagging of the [Supreme Court] unanimous 7. If you go to court and your fact and law do not gel, you do not expect the supreme court [to rule in your favour]. At the Supreme Court, they are servants of the law, they are not masters of the law. In other words, if Parliament passes a law, no matter your idiosyncrasies as a judge, you should with it. A law may be stupid but as a judge, you need to apply it as it is,” he explained.
Mr Namoo was disappointed by the comments of the National Security Minister. “The National Security Minister is an experienced minister and we least expected such from him,” he added.
He said Ghanaians must be made aware that government loses cases every day, it is rather coincidental that the much-publicised ones are the ones that go in favour of the government.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
