Justice For Sale: Examining the Independence of the Judiciary Obsolete Concept With Immense Appeal

A nation’s that does not have, or cultivate, the fortitude to challenge harmful rulings by our nation’s corrupt judges should be prepared to see injustice become an acceptable norm. In my opinion, there will be serious implications for our nation’s democracy if some judges are allowed to adjudicate on criminal matters, when they are, themselves, part of an extensive criminal network. In today’s article, I will discuss the extent to which some of the nation’s corrupt judges have exploited the independence of the judiciary to forestall remedial interventions to make justice accessible to Ghanaian citizens.

While judiciary independence serves a substantive function in preserving the rule of law, its inflexible application allows for self-serving rulings by the nation’s corrupt judges. The behaviour of these judges, sometimes, makes the public question the integrity of, and the wisdom in, our laws, and whether they play any meaningful contributions to the preservation of social order and equality in socio-human relations. For example, what does the nation expect me do, when Judge Kobena Acquaye admits in his ruling that an element of fraud was detected on plaintiff’s document, but he (i.e. the plaintiff, Mr. Richard Osae-Duodu) was not responsible for the fraud, and can retain possession of my lawfully-acquired property? This is one of the many irritations in Ghanaian jurisprudential philosophy, for which the nation has tolerated for far too long. I won’t, and I promise my nation that I will put up an unbendable resistance to reclaim what is rightfully mine.

If the plaintiff is not responsible forging his own document, which he tendered, in court, as evidence, why should I be held responsible for his offence? After all, my documents were examined by experts at the nation’s Police Crime Laboratory, and were found to be genuine. How can a plaintiff who admitted in court that he was, twice, arrested by the police for building on my land, claim that he did not know that the land was a stolen property? If Judge Acquaye believes what the plaintiff said, then what was the reason for his arrest? How can a judge override police forensic report, records at the Land Commission Secretariat, and letters from the Regional Lands Commissioner warning the plaintiff that the land in dispute was not for Mr. Roger Emmanuel Amudzi, but for Nana Amma Obenewaa?

How can a High Court judge, given his training, defy professional wisdom, to believe that the registered letter that was mailed by the Lands Commission Secretariat to the plaintiff got missing because the plaintiff’s name on the envelope was spelt wrong? Is there any visible difference between the names, “Richard Osa(m)-Duodu,” and “Richard Osa(e)-Duodu’? How can a plaintiff sign for a registered mail, upon receipt, and purport that he did not receive it?

Interestingly, the plaintiff contradicted his own testimony, by admitting in court, that the address on the envelope was his correct mailing address? How can Judge Kobena Acquaye, therefore, give such a psychotic ruling in the case herein, and continue to enjoy the respect accorded to decent judges? How does Judge Acquaye’s unkind ruling contribute to the safeguarding of a lawful society? Judge Acquaye did what he did, knowing that he is protected under the nation’s judicial independence provision, and the worst I can do is to waste more money, and appeal his ruling, which I will gladly do with undiminished fervour.

What option does a citizen have, if a corrupt judge gives a ruling that perverts justice and circumvents substantive issues before the court? Similar to many obsolete laws, the independence of the judiciary curtails the right of aggrieved citizens to report the unlawful conduct of judges to the police for criminal prosecution. In my case, I have evidence to support my claims of misconduct against Justice Kobena Acquaye. Much as I would have wanted him prosecuted, I am constrained by the provisions on independence of the judiciary.

The independence of the judiciary, I believe, should be revised, to allow citizen to question rulings that make mockery of our nation’s democracy and the rule of law. While I expect certain commentators to reject my position by arguing that the independence of the judiciary must be preserved, what they fail to understand is that our judiciary is not free from backdoor interferences from the Executive arm of government. After all, we all know, for a fact, that judges are political appointees, and incumbent governments are always delighted to flood the judiciary with their sympathizers. Given the context, some of the nation’s judges owe the longevity of their career, and their livelihood, to their benefactors, and not the public.

In Ghana’s situation, the independence of the judiciary has conferred on some of the nation’s judges the status of human-gods. By building this false image in their psyche, some of the nation’s judges do not see themselves as civil servants, but as an elitist subgroup whose social standing is unmatched by society’s civil servants. While judges can punish ordinary citizen for violating the law, they enjoy undeserving immunity from criminal prosecution even when their conduct, and rulings, bear features of criminality.

While is easy to speechify the unlawful activities of some of the nation’s judges, and recommend inoperable mechanisms as remedies, the unwillingness of the state to trap, and punish, the nation’s criminal judges has further emboldened the Judge Kobena Acquayes to perfect their skills in extortion. Since its establishment, the Judicial Complaint Unit has not been successful in indicting a single judge for serious wrongdoing? Maybe, since its creation, the nation’s judges suddenly became saints. While I commend the late Justice George Kingsley Acquah for setting up the Complaint Unit, his noble intentions were undermined by an institution where arrogance is tolerated, and conscienceless judges, such as Judge Kobena Acquaye, are overseers of the law.

Instead of fostering a culture that mitigate serious crimes that are committed by the nation’s corrupt judges, the judiciary must look into practical alternatives, such as dismissing, and prosecuting, judges, whose conduct breach judicial values and societal norms. For instance, what are the alternatives for indigent citizens, whose little knowledge of the law make them dependent on the misguided directives of corrupt judges? What remedies exist for citizens who cannot financially afford protracted legal actions because of needless adjournments by a judge as his/her way of smothering justice for a buck?

A democratic system that sees a nation’s socio-political, and economic, achievements through the obscured lenses of society’s elite will fail. Why should a government elected by, and for, the people, become silent on the societal depressions? What value is democracy, and universal freedoms, when few citizens are content with the status quo, while many who grit their teeth in agonizing pain, and lament over the failures of our laws, and the inactions of our policymakers? For a democracy to succeed, and justice to prevail, the law must be made accessible to all, and empower citizens, irrespective of their social standing, to bring cases against the dominant, if evidence exist that they have been wronged. While some of you would shrug off, and label, my outpour of ideas as angry outbursts, and predicated on Obenewaa’s anti-establishmentarian prejudice, today’s victors could become tomorrow’s victims and they have no reason to cry for allies.

By coming together to initiate a discourse on judicial criminality, we can bring our moral influence to bear on the judiciary to review unnecessary judicial provisions. We cannot sit down, as people, and allow the likes of Judge Acquaye to operate outside the framework and be rewarded with a new position as a fast-track court judge. We have a moral obligation, as Ghanaians, to expose Judge Acquaye as an indecent human being, and one of the few criminal judges in the nation’s judiciary. It is neither an overstatement, nor is it an understatement, to say that the target-killings we see in Ghana is the result of a dysfunctional judiciary, the retention of corrupt judges, and the public’s eroding confidence in some of them.

While the protective judicial provisions can shield the nation’s corrupt judges, in theory, from courtroom violence, it cannot guarantee their safety outside of the courtroom. The nation’s tertiary-deviant judges cannot inflict harm on innocent Ghanaians, and expect adulations in return. The chances that, one day, our nation will wake up to hear a gory story about a citizen inflicting his/her brand of justice on a corrupt judge is not implausible. Many have been wronged by these judges; resources have been exhausted, yet justice was denied; families have fallen apart, and aching hearts have paralyzed the human soul. A cocktail of these factors could push some citizen to do the unthinkable.

The nation’s judiciary has many options at its disposal. One, it can choose to be content with the status quo, and believe that the judiciary embodies justice, when in fact, it isn’t always the case. Or, its can choose a hardnosed approach to confront corrupt judges, and dismiss them. Thirdly, it could institute verifiable reforms, and accept citizens’ input on how best to address the ills. Fourthly, the judiciary can rethink, and redefine, its institutional values to ensure provable compliance by every judge.

While some would speak angrily of me as being overly critical of the judiciary, Ghanaians do not deserve the Kobena Acquayes. A nation that lives in the twenty-first century, must behave according to the diktats of the millennium. While we all agree that the nation many problems, we cannot adopt an isolationist attitude, and put our destiny in the hands of the nation’s corrupt judges, and think that they can guarantee our freedom(s). Edza do, adzidza kpo vivitime kekeli, eye wo dze anyi fa avi xexexe. Kobena Acquaye tukpe me doa vovo Amma Obenewaa o. Me kpo nutefe kpo le agbeme, eye me do nye avawu. Agbedefu, edefu na gbeto. Change will come, and it surely will. I wish my nation well, and I hope all is well. Good day and cheers.