Opinions of Thursday, 12 January 2012

Columnist: Sidibe, Abdul Musah

Ghana’s corrupt Chief Justice in cocaine scandal again

Not so long ago, I was chatting with a friend on Facebook and expressed my doubt on the fairness of the outcome of the Committee set up by Ghana’s Justice, Mrs. Justice Georgina Wood, to investigate the cocaine turned baking soda saga. In the process I Informed my friend who is in government of my firm belief that the report will be doctored, and that like the missing 77 parcels off the MV Benjamin, nothing significant will come out if the Chief Justice is allowed to spearhead the investigation.

Lo and behold, it has come to pass. According to the report released by Mrs. Georgina Wood, which she held in her chambers two and half weeks before media reports forced her hand, it is the police and not the judge in whose presence the cocaine sample was unsealed and in whose office the sample was kept before retesting were at fault. The report is unbelievable and defies every human logic and imagination.

In effect the Chief Justice is arguing that that the police who arrested the suspect, brought her before a court of competence, followed up on her bail, and brought her back to court to face charges for her crimes swap their most important evidence in the case in order to free her. The question is, for what purpose would the police do that? It does not make sense. If the police wanted the suspect to be free they would not have forced the person or persons who signed off her bail before it was the granted to produce her for further action. The report as released by Chief Justice simply will not pass the litmus test. And the police are already disputing the report.

Mrs. Georgina Wood kept the committee’s report in her office for two and half weeks after the committee had completed it work and submitted it. It is as if the Chief Justice and her allies have used the period to debate on who they should dump their own wanton corrupt practices, lies and misinformation on. Finally they decided that it is prudent for them to dump their bag full of shit on the police, the usual suspects. Except that the police are not buying it this time. I just hope that the Mills administration will allow the Ghana police force to fight this one out with Mrs. Georgina Wood and expose her for who she really is; an unchangeable and unrepentant corrupt public official.

Besides, I am less inclined to belief in a report produced by a Chief Justice who owes her appointment to a cover up of a similar scandal. I am even less inclined to belief a Chief Justice who will stifle dissenters of her administration to the extent of denying them the right of Habeas Corpus as the case of the four lawyers who accused her administration of corruption.

This Chief Justice is corrupt and the least Ghanaians should demand from her is to tender her resignation to the President and vanish from the upper echelons of our government. Mrs. Georgina wood came in to office via a cocaine scandal. Her administration thus far has been marred by scandal after scandal and nothing will change it until she leaves office. To give way for a competent individual to help manage one of Ghana’s most important institutions.

Mrs. Georgina Wood will go down as the most corrupt Chief Justice in modern Ghanaian history.

Abdul Musah Sidibe

agolumusah@yahoo.com

Abdul Musah Sidibe is a student, a human rights activist and an African and Ghanaian political observer and commentator.