Correspondence from Upper East

Residents of the Upper East Region are demanding the immediate return of the presiding judge of the High Court 2 in Bolgatanga, Justice Alexander Graham, who was forced out of the region after his residence came under a violent attack on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

Such was the fear for his life amid the night attack that the Chief Justice of Ghana, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, told him to proceed to Accra immediately for his own safety.

But he could not leave the region immediately as the faceless assailants hurled stones repeatedly at his house for a while and did not leave until a team of soldiers and police, dispatched to the scene after the judge’s bodyguard called for reinforcement, arrived at the scene.

The judge left the region at dawn on Thursday escorted by police and military officers to the Tamale International Airport and was flown to Accra.

Many believe the attack is linked to the trial and conviction of the two people he had held in contempt of court five days earlier.

The two men― the Chief of Baare, Naab Nyakora Mantii, and the Secretary to the Paramount Chief of Talensi, Richard Sunday Yinbil, had approached the judge in his chambers on March 10, 2023, and told him they had been sent by the paramount chief, Tongraan Nanlebegtang Kugbilsong, to invite him to his palace. They said the Tongraan had requested to have him at the palace for a private discussion concerning some mining-related cases which were filed from Talensi and were being handled by the judge.

Finding such a move as an attempt to influence his decisions on those cases and deeming it as contempt of court, the judge ordered the police in the courtroom to arrest the men immediately and handcuff them. Minutes later, they were put on trial. They pleaded guilty and were convicted on their own plea. The judge initially was poised to hand them a jail sentence, but he rescinded the decision after about twelve lawyers pleaded for mitigation on their behalf. Eventually, they were made to sign a bond of good behaviour at the Upper East Regional Police Command for a period of six months.

Several residents have taken to social media platforms, in the wake of Justice Graham’s forced departure from the region, to condemn the attack on his residence and to demand his return. Leading the residents in the condemnation and demand is an anti-corruption group, National Patriots against Injustice and Corruption Ghana (NAPAIC-Ghana).

“It is our [firm] belief that people who supported the cruel and offensive actions of the agents of the Paramount Chief of Talensi, Tongraan Nanlebegtang Kugbilsong, to entrap and to influence Justice Alexander Graham might have carried out the attack or the threat (our opinion) on the judge. We humbly ask the security services, notably the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), to quickly put up an intelligence search on the perpetrators.

“We are pleading with the Chief Justice, His Lordship Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, to as a matter of urgency put together firm security measures to protect the life, family and property of Justice Alexander Graham and to help the Upper East Region by keeping Justice Alexander Graham (the man of the moment) so that we the people of the Upper East Region can experience true justice from the Judiciary,” the group stated at a news conference.

A transfer would be a bad precedent― NAPAIC-Ghana

NAPAIC-Ghana also highlighted the fears some residents had expressed that the attack might prompt Justice Graham’s transfer from the region. Such an exit, the group said, would be a bad precedent.

“There are fears in the region that Justice Alexander Graham would be transferred from the region in the wake of the attack, which would serve as a bad precedent should he be transferred. This is so because anytime judgement would be given against litigants, they would resort to this kind of attack on the judge in the hope that the judge would be transferred. This would also discourage judges from working as independently as they should because anytime they uphold the rule of law, the opposition to the rule would deliberately fight back and the only protection for them is to be transferred.

“We think this would turn the rule of law on its head and undermine our democracy. We respectfully emphasise that Justice Alexander Graham must stay and continue with his good and exemplary work in the interest of the region without fear. This is our request to the Chief Justice,” it said.

Adding his voice, the President of the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, described Justice Graham as “the only one that can touch the untouchables”.

“We will have to mobilise and do a peaceful march to demand his return. He is the only one that can touch the untouchable in the administration of justice.

“The law being the Spider’s Web, catching we the smaller animals and allowing the bigger animals to penetrate and pass through with ease, must stop now,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

While some groups are being seriously criticised by residents for not condemning the attack on the judge or for condemning the attack too late, some organisations have announced plans to stage demonstrations in the region in solidarity with Justice Graham and to press home their demand for his return and safety.