The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) on Monday called on President Kufour's administration to make promotions and appointments to the bench based purely on merit, hard work and integrity.

"Promotions and appointments to the Bench should not be based on political affiliation as hitherto been the practice in some cases", the association said.

In a statement jointly signed by its National President Mr Ebow Quarshie and Secretary Mr Ayikoi Otoo, the GBA reiterated its call for government's support for the judiciary to make it independent.

It further called for a repeal of all obnoxious laws that impede freedom of expression.

It said democratic institutions such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Serious Fraud Office and the National Commission on Civic Education should be strengthened to enhance probity and accountability and to prevent human rights abuses.

The GBA urged the new administration to study, for implementation, past resolutions of its annual conferences, at which far-reaching decisions touching on the nation, the legal profession, and the judiciary among others, were taken.

It condemned the practice where Council of State Members shirked their constitutional duty as advisers to the President and became "so politically biased as to even run errands for the President as well as to don party colours and speak on party platforms."

The statement said although the GBA "does not believe in witch-hunting, the general mood in Ghana presently, is for accountability on the part of the outgoing NDC administration. "We call on President Kufuor to listen to the voice of the people".