Ghana has once again lifted her flag so high to the rest of the world, especially to her sister Africa nations. A pace-setting example has been set through the nomination and acceptance of Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood (J.S.C) as the next, the youngest and the first female Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana. This in fact reaffirms the theme for our Golden Jubilee celebration: Championing African Excellence. The credibility of our C.J is not in doubt if one carefully considers and objectively analyses her 33 years of judicial experience, her contribution in the investigation into the recent cocaine saga and her role as the chairperson of Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism (A.D.R.M) in the country. Not only has Justice Wood served at the bench (Being a judge) in Ghana, but also in Gambia. This is indeed is a historic moment and a sign of pride and confidence for women in the country as she now occupies or becomes the fourth most important person in Ghana after the President, the Veep and the Speaker of Parliament.
Among others, our new C.J is poised to ensure a corrupt-free judicial system by building the culture of integrity; redoubling the mechanization of the courts in order to speed up the process of trials; promote and encourage the resort to the A.D.R.M among Ghanaians in order to reduce the number of cases in the courts; work at ensuring that recruitment would now be done with greater scrutiny while working at improving salaries of staff. This she said was one of the surest ways of eliminating the perception of corruption in the minds of the public, and to sustain the institutional reforms initiated by her predecessor, the late Chief Justice George Acquah.
Undoubtedly, the perception of corruption in the judiciary is real, factual and present. The situation has made it possible for some vociferous social commentators who are quick to know the cost of everything but the value of nothing, hastily, harshly and hypocritically criticize the judiciary in no constructive terms to make it appear that the system is as bad as the devil. This attitude undoubtedly drains away the confidence of the public in the justice system, whereby compelling them to take the law into their own hands with the highest impunity. It should be noted that, the judiciary, like any other governmental institution, is not above criticisms and infallibility, as it is equally an institution full of human beings. The recent report of Transparency International shows that the situation is not so bad, especially at the top of the ladder. Admittedly, there is pretty bribery in the service, which is a slur to the integrity of the judiciary as an ordained institution meant to punish people for unlawful deeds.
The problem about us as Ghanaians is that, we are always ready to point fingers at other people for alleged corrupt practices and make a lot of noise about them, but behave far differently when we called upon to substantiate the accusation for appropriate action to be taken. Besides, we often fail to initiate any appropriate action on our own to fish. out the bad nuts in the system. It is the submission of the writer that, until we change our bad attitude of apathy and cultivate the habit of assisting to fight any bad conduct by our public officials, the trend would even be worst the day ahead. It would take the collective effort of all and sundry. No one can be sanctioned unless his guilt has been established after adducing cogent and convincing evidence. This can only be done if we boldly step out when necessary to reveal any such bad conduct of any official. As the saying goes: the only way for the evil to triumph is for the good man to do nothing (emphasis is mine). It is not enough to make wide allegations, but it is equally very important to come out with any information relevant to the scandal, which may be in our custody or those that we have clear knowledge about. It is a matter of regrets that, bribery and corruption seems to be an acceptable act in Ghana today. People feel comfortable and are always willing to proffer all that it takes to satisfy their whims and caprices at the expense of the image of our dear nation. While the canker is deeply rooted in most public and private institutions, the judiciary must be the last point of checking and punishing this negative trait. The judiciary cannot be morally justified to judge and punish others for the same offence of which it is guilty. Dear Ghanaians, let us put away our shield of fear that deters us from coming out with any proof of the allegations we make since our new CJ, despite the various promises she has made, cannot eradicate the perception of corruption in the judiciary all alone.
It is recommended to our new CJ that the following could be adopted to deal with the canker. First the condition of service of judges and other judicial officers should be revised to reflect the current economic and social conditions in the country; lawyers who may intentionally do any act to delay cases should be made to pay the appropriate fine or face any sanction so prescribed without mercy; fully equip the courts; provide frequent training and retraining workshops especially for the other judicial officers. Also, mass education to sensitize the public to understand and appreciate the judicial process; the appropriate fees to be paid and the need to challenge openly and report any corrupt personnel to the appropriate oversight body. It is the view of the writer that, if litigants are enlightened about how the system works, the honest ones will surely refuse to compromise any corrupt conduct. It is humbly suggested that Ghanaians should be made aware of the need to apply for legal aid if qualified, since a litigant represented by a lawyer is unlikely to be manipulated. The current legal fees (which seem to be rhetorical) charged by lawyers should be revised and enforced.
As was aptly pointed out by Max De Pree, the signs of outstanding leadership appear priminarily among the followers. All the stakeholders of the judiciary as well as the members of the public should willingly and meaningfully give their maximum support to our new CJ for the betterment of all. The challenges before us cannot be single-handedly be solved by our new C.J, but by the concerted efforts of all and sundry.
Center for Human Rights and Advanced Legal Research
(CHRALER), Kumasi.
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