Mahama’s reckless remarks have stifled aspirations of NDC lawyers joining the bench – Koku

Koku Anyidoho, Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Institute, has slammed former President John Dramani for his constant attacks on the judiciary, particularly Chief Gertrude Torkornoo.

He claimed that Mr. Mahama’s constant attacks on the judiciary undermine it, expose it to public ridicule, and are unjust.

Koku Anyidoho noted that the current Chief Justice was appointed to the Appeals Court by the late John Evans Atta Mills and wondered if she was also appointed because she was affiliated with the NDC at the time.

Anyidoho noted that Mahama’s ‘balancing judiciary appointments’ comment is the most unfortunate statement in recent times.

The NDC presidential candidate accused President Akufo-Addo of appointing party members to the bench to influence decisions in their favour.

As a result, he charged NDC lawyers to prepare for positions on the bench in order to balance it out.

“Our lawyers, some of you must be prepared to go onto the bench. I know that some of you have very lucrative legal practices you will not want to leave and go onto the bench. But you can see what the current President has done: he appointed the largest number of judges to the bench. More than 80 towards a hundred and counting.

"He’s packed the court, and we know that they’ve packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office. So, all manner of people who have been known to be partisan, to have been executives of their party, and who are in the legal profession have been leapfrogged onto the Superior courts and other places,” he said.

Reacting to these comments, Koku Anyidoho described the comments as unfortunate.

"If pro-NDC lawyers are meeting, and you want to address them, and you are telling them that the NPP has pacified the courts with NPP judges, why? Even Jean Mensa has a vote, so the EC officials vote, and the judges vote. You may believe that they are politically affiliated, but when you tell NDC lawyers that when you have the opportunity to balance the equation, you have turned the thing into a different thing altogether.”

Some NDC lawyers expressed interest in joining the bench but rescinded the idea due to Mr. Mahama’s negative comments, he revealed while speaking in an interview with Kwabena Agyapong on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm.

He said these lawyers believe they would have to live with this negative tag of balancing the equation should they be appointed under a new Mahama-led administration.

"That was the point the president was trying to make, but unfortunately, he also used the Bar Conference to campaign, and the leadership condemned him for that and responded appropriately. But the former president had the opportunity to appoint others. Were all those he appointed NDC? The people are judges.”

"This Justice Torkonor, it was under Prof. Mills’ time that she was appointed to the Appeals Court. Go and check the records. Today, Nana Addo made her the CJ, sent her to the Supreme Court, and made her the CJ.

"So at the time President Mills was appointing her to the Appeals Court, was she NDC or NPP? She was his student, and he found her intelligent and a bright judge. That was how the late Mills sent Charlotte Osei to the NCCE. It was John who came to move her to the EC.”

"So John just made a reckless statement, and as a former president, you don’t make such a reckless statement because you will open yourself up for public criticism, and that is his own cup of tea.”