Perception of Judiciary as a ‘Unanimous FC’ is a threat to Ghana’s democracy – Mahama

Former President, John Dramani Mahama has expressed worry over the growing lack of public confidence in the Judiciary.

According to him, the situation poses an ‘existential threat’ to the survival of Ghana’s democracy.

Addressing participants at the NDC’s Lawyers’ Conference on Sunday, Mr Mahama noted that, a trusted Judiciary is a critical ingredient in safeguarding the country’s democracy.

This he said, however appears to be missing, as many citizens openly ridicule the Judiciary as the ‘Unanimous FC’; a coined term which connotes the collectiveness of thoughts in recent rulings of the apex Court.

“So badly has the image of our Judiciary deteriorated. That many of our citizenry openly make mockery of our justice system and of our justices. The phrase ‘Go to Court’ is these days met with derisive laughter, instead of hope that one will truly get justice”, Mr Mahama lamented.

He continued, “If people are not poking fun about politics and inducements being used to sway the hand of justice in the lower courts, then it is poking fun and making statements about the 7-0 of the ‘Unanimous FC’ “.

Expressing his worry, he further emphasised that, “this is an unfortunate development. One of the scariest existential threat to any existential threat to any democracy is when citizens think their judiciary holds no value for them”.

Mr Mahama therefore stressed the need for the Judiciary to work to win the trust of the citizenry and ‘erase the widely held perception of hostility and political in legal proceedings’.

He however added that, he is not confident in the ability of the current leadership of the Judiciary to repair its ‘broken image’.

In his view, it will take a new Chief Justice to restore the eroded public trust and confidence in the Judiciary.

In a related development, the former head of state also described the Akufo-Addo regime as ‘the greatest political scam in the 4th Republic’.

According to him, this is due to the unprecedented economic challenges in the country.

Mr Mahama told his audience at the NDC’s Lawyers’ Conference on Sunday that, President Akufo-Addo and his Vice, Dr Mahamadu Mahamadu, must be squarely blamed for the current economic hardship in the country.

“Let me add without equivocation that [this is] the government that has proven to be the greatest political scam in the history of the 4th Republic. By current indices, the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia NPP government remains the worst ever in the history of our 4th Republic”, Mahama said.

Lamenting the prevailing economic condition, he however touted the NDC’s ability to make things better in the near future.

“Ghanaians are looking up to the NDC to restore hope and turn the fortunes of our motherland around from the pitiable state in which we currently find ourselves”, he said.