A former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, William Atuguba, has lamented what he describes as a jaundiced interpretation of law fuelled by skewed political interests in the country.

Reacting to a comment by Frank Davies, the Chairman of the Constitution and Legal Committee of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), that the revered justice erred in his criticism of the judgement of the apex court on the James Gyakye Quayson case, Atuguba said he is worried about the kinds of political mindsets people have.

Frank Davies had said, following a public address by the former Supreme Court Justice, that the judge had also succumbed to the same misconception about the matter, just as many other people had.

He described the situation as unfortunate, adding that he misjudged and misconstrued the interpretation of the case.

But in a further clarification on the response from Frank Davies, during an interview on JoyNews, Justice William Atuguba read out portions of the High Court’s ruling, and stressed that it saddens him that people are only out to use their political lenses to look at a lot of things.

He stressed that it is the very kind of things he abhors, especially when morality and proper sense of judgment has eluded people because of their political inclinations.

“The kind of politics that has entered some people’s minds and jaundiced their systems to such an extent that there’s no respect for truth, morality, fear of God; anything, except to attain a political objective fair or foul, this is the kind of mindset that leads to these kinds of things and I’m seriously against that.

“… all I was saying was they purported to re-adjudicate the same case which the High Court had adjudicated. In law, you don’t determine the same matter all over again,” he stated.




Justice William Atuguba had earlier spoken at a public forum organised by Solidaire Ghana and the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, on the theme, “Protecting Ghana’s Democracy: The Role of the Judiciary.”

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