The Kenyan justice system seems to work better than ours not because their Constitution is better or has a superior appointment mode. In fact, on inspection, our mode of appointment is facially stronger.
Rather, it works because CJ Mutunga accepted criticisms from CSOs, acknowledged the frailties of the system, consulted widely with stakeholders, and instituted transformative reforms in 2012 whose outcomes are what we are witnessing today.
As he said then,
“We found an institution so frail in its structures; so thin on resources; so low on its confidence; so deficient in integrity; so weak in its public support that to have expected it to deliver justice was to be wildly optimistic. We found a Judiciary that was designed to fail. The institutional structure was such that the Office of the Chief Justice operated as a judicial monarch supported by the Registrar of the High Court. Power and authority were highly centralized. Accountability mechanisms were weak and reporting requirements were absent. When we put people on a pedestal it is based on negative power and authority. That is the old order.”
On the other hand, not even the Anas videos have been sufficient to call for the setting up of a broad-based commission to systematically study the frailties of the judiciary and to propose transformative and measurable reforms.
Yet, the old order that he described and reformed has been and remains our current order.
Here, we delight in blaming the poor Constitution for a completely broken-down justice system.
Those who call for reform in the way we administer justice are told to move to Kenya. Sometimes they are accused of not liking the judges.
Even a simple conversation on allowing universities to focus on legal education and jurists to focus on judging has dragged on for almost a decade with nobody willing to accept responsibility for a completely failed system.
Ghanaians hold nobody accountable. In fact, why do that and risk being tagged when you can blame the Constitution?
The Constitution has become the family witch who stands in the way of progress, responsible for every bad outcome, from poor grades to poor pay to poor raises to rising yam prices.
Look, no Constitution is going to reform the justice system, political parties, the education system, or the way we allocate resources.
The people we elect and appoint decide everything. You elect and appoint good people you get. You elect and appoint bad people you get bad results.
Blame the Constitution all you want, but our destiny is in our own hands.
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