..Only Regrets Attacks On Judge

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) says it regrets the unrestrained attacks" on the judicial system and the person of Mr. Justice E.K. Ayebi, the judge who last week Tuesday acquitted and discharged the 14 accused persons in the case of the murder of the Ya-Na, Yakubu Andani II.

The association was, however, silent on efforts to find the killers of the overlord so as to bring a lasting peace to the people of the Dagbon Traditional Area.

In the past, the GBA championed the presentation of the freedom and human rights, of the Ghanaian. Indeed, the group was very instrumental in the institutionalization of the Martyr’s Day celebration by the Judicial Service, for the murder of the three High Court Judges and a military officer, during the era of the PNDC military junta, led by Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.

But a statement signed in Accra, last week Friday by Mr. Frank W.K. Beecham, National President, said the GBA had "noted with grave and regrettable disquiet, the incessant, if not mischievous, and unrestrained attacks on the person of His Lordship, Justice E.K. Ayebi, and the integrity of the judicial system, following the acquittal of 14 accused persons in the most recent Ya-Na trial".

It said the haste with which the attacks had been made suggested several preconceptions of protagonists on the matter without recourse to the actual ruling of the trial judge.

The GBA said it was regrettable that some of these "unfortunate comments" had been made by members of the Bar.

"It is the view of the GBA that the media and all those who want to be informed about the matter, ought to procure and read copies of the full ruling of the court. It is only then that we can have an informed and honest debate over and the assessment of these matters, which will in turn provide brighter light and less heat to our national fabric," the statement said.

The GBA admits that judges, being human, may and do err.

"When they do, we must, as civilized persons, seek to correct the error by resorting to the constitutionally guaranteed appeal or review process. We cannot allow our dear nation to descend into anarchy. Let us as a nation discuss and debate the issues, but refrain from unjustified attacks on persons who may hold views we disagree with", it stated.

The GBA said it was calling on members of the public to secure copies of the ruling in the trial, study and then engage in a rational and decorous debate with the view to advancing the fortunes of the country.

Some members of the public have even condemned some members of the Bar of always jumping to the defence of their own. In the case of the three slain judges and the military officer, it was only the judges who had bust erected at the precinct of the Supreme Court building in their memory.

When Tsatsu Tsikata was jailed by Justice Henrietta Abban, under the Kufuor regime, the Ghana Bar Association president, Nii Osa Mills, was forced to resign for saying that Mr. Tsikata’s incarceration was wrong.

Among the vociferous campaigners for the removal of Mr. Nii Osa-Mills was the then Greater Accra GBA President, Mr. Frank Davis, who had acted as lawyer of Mrs. Justice Henrietta Abban, when she was accused of coaching the late Mr. Justice Stephen Tawiah Farkye to slap a 10-year jail term on Mr. Dan Abodakpi.

Some Ghanaians have even tagged the GBA, as a legal wing of the NPP.