Opinions of Saturday, 18 February 2023

Columnist: Joel Savage

Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah’s ‘Performance Review Program’ is senseless

Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah

Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, just because you’ve established a "Performance Review Program" to remove underperforming judges and magistrates from Ghana's judicial system, doesn't mean you are honest.

You are the reason why Ghana has become a lawless nation, thus all the judges who you consider to be incompetent are so because you are precisely that. This article will explain why you are responsible for the failure of the judiciary system, which contributed to other judges' ineptitude.

The capability of the Attorney General and Chief Justice determines the efficiency of a nation's judicial system. If you are truly honest with yourself, you will acknowledge that you, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, and Godfred Dame, have destroyed the nation's judicial system.

Additionally, since your government never accepts responsibility for matters that affect the nation, such as the rise in crime and corruption, you are now blaming other judges you find incompetent.

I'll give you an example so that you can see exactly what I mean when I say that your government doesn't accept responsibility for its mistakes. Just yesterday, the president who appointed you made the same claim: "Difficult moment in my presidency is the outbreak of COVID-19,” but before COVID-19 arrived, your administration was in utter disarray.

He continues to assert that COVID-19 is to blame for the difficulties despite the fact that corruption has increased by more than 200% and negatively impacted both domestic and foreign investments.

Another noteworthy issue is that, despite making a big deal about how COVID-19 is to blame for the hardships in Ghana, he has chosen to ignore the fact that a sizable portion of the stolen money was moved into private accounts. This is one of the reasons I have stated time and time again that I would never support such a dishonest president, and I have even stated categorically that Akufo Addo is the kind of man who, if you follow, will land you in a pool of disgrace at the end of your life.

Akufo Addo can't keep trying to persuade Ghanaians that COVID-19 is to blame for their woes when in other hard-hit nations; the pandemic wrecked, their economies are faring better than Ghana. Without addressing the stolen COVID-19 cash, the president cannot persuade Ghanaians that COVID-19 was a contributing factor in his government's demise, as those funds could have greatly aided the economy and prevented it from degenerating into such a terrible situation.

More significantly, he set up a health checkpoint at the Kotoka International Airport to check travelers for COVID-19 while charging up to $150 for each traveler from overseas. Where did all of those funds go, and why is the president still blaming COVID-19? Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, you are exactly this, your involvement in bribe-receiving scandals irreparably ruined Ghana's judicial system and its future; as a result, your subordinates looked up to you and performed poorly.

More significantly, he set up a health checkpoint at the Kotoka International Airport to check travelers for COVID-19 while charging up to $150 for each traveler from overseas. Where did all of those funds go, and why is the president still blaming COVID-19? Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, you are exactly this, your involvement in bribe-receiving scandals irreparably ruined Ghana's judicial system and its future; as a result, your subordinates looked up to you and performed poorly.

It's really hilarious that Akufo Addo won't even admit to his massive corruption but rather blame COVID-19 for Ghana's problems. Every sane person is aware that high levels of corruption and incompetence are to blame for the collapse of Ghana's economy; therefore, if he refuses to accept his failure and keeps blaming COVID-19, the disgruntled Ghanaians wouldn't allow the NPP to take office in order to ruin the nation and find someone or something to blame for it.

Even though every Ghanaian was counting on you to act honorably, the Chief Justice disregarded the Holy Bible that you swear your oath with before taking office and misused your position to declare the loser of a presidential election the winner.

You ended up receiving the favor back since CHRAJ decided not to investigate the alleged bribe case involving the $5 million bribe you allegedly got into and as a result of your dishonesty, Ghanaians are currently experiencing problems they are not responsible.

Although you have denied accepting any bribes in exchange for favors, intelligent Ghanaians are still wondering why President Nana Akufo Addo rejected the petition to remove the Chief Justice from office. It is because of you, many NPP politicians, including pastors, commit crimes with impunity and frequently avoid being held accountable for their wrongdoings, which have harmed thousands of Ghanaians.

Imagine Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa exposing the unscrupulous practices of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng. This so-called man of God thief was able to go to court and request a restraining order to prohibit the MP for North Tongu from speaking about the crime in which he was involved. He went on to call for Mr. Ablakwa's arrest. All of these crimes were committed under your administration as Chief Justice, and now you're talking about the "Performance Review Program" to weed out incompetent judges? Nonsense!