Akufo-Addo hits back at Mahama over ‘judiciary appointments’ comment

Former president John Mahama has come under fire from President Nana Akufo-Addo for claiming that he has filled the judiciary with justices who support the NPP.

According to the President, Mr. Mahama’s remark is extremely harmful to the country’s prosperity and shouldn’t be expressed by a person of his status.

President Akufo-Addo stated that this is the most blatant onslaught the judiciary has ever endured in Ghana’s history when addressing the Ghana Bar Conference at the University of Cape Coast on Monday, September 11th, 2023.

He thus pleaded with the populace to denounce the former president for making such “reckless” remarks that aim to endanger the judiciary.

“I have gone into this matter in detail because of a new issue which has been introduced into our public discourse by no less a public figure than the fourth president of the fourth republic perennial NDC Presidential Candidate John Mahama who has told the world that I have packed the courts with so-called NPP judges and that one of the key purposes a putative NDC victory in 2024 will be to enable him to balance the courts with so-called NDC judges.”

“Not only are these concepts new in our public discourse but they are also extremely dangerous and represent the blazing attack on the independence of the judiciary by allegedly responsible politicians,” he said.

On Saturday, September 2, the 2024 NDC presidential contender accused President Akufo-Addo of putting members of his party to the bench in order to influence rulings in their favor. He was addressing at the NDC Lawyers Conference in Akosombo.

Thus, in order to equalize the bench’s makeup, he commanded NDC attorneys to get ready to apply for openings.

“Our lawyers, some of you must be prepared to go onto the bench, I know that some of you have very lucrative legal practices you will not want to leave and go onto the bench. But you can see what the current President has done; he appointed the largest number of judges onto the bench. More than 80 towards hundred and counting.

“He’s packed the court and we know that they’ve packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office.

“So, all manner of people who have been known to be partisan, to have been executives of their party who are in the legal profession have been leapfrogged onto the Superior courts and other places,” he said.

The President, Mr. Mahama, has made several remarks that have been called hazardous and should not be tolerated by Ghanaians.