You are not above the law, we can criticise you – Hassan Ayariga tells judges

According to him, anybody who does not take criticism is not a leader hence the need for them to accept criticism.

Speaking in an interview on Oyerepa, he said the judiciary must also stop summoning people in the manner in they do.

He said they have the right to take the issue to court but they can’t order people to court, that’s a misuse of power he stressed.

“…the judiciary are not above the law; they should stop thinking they are above the law. who gives the judiciary power, who give them the power? So we can criticize them when they go wrong, anybody who do not take criticism is not a leader.

“And they should not sit and think that when we criticize the call us to court, they don’t have power to do that. They can go to court but they can’t call us to court. Its misuse of power.”

His comment comes on back of calls that Ghanaians should be careful on how they attack the judiciary in recent times.

John Dramani Mahama, former president and 2020 flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has also cautioned against a rife perception that the Judiciary is politically biased.

He held that there is an urgent need for the judiciary - especially the Supreme Court- to work towards instilling confidence in its output and save Ghana's democracy.

Mahama told a gathering of NDC lawyers at a conference in Ada that the judiciary needed to be trusted by the public at all times because such trust had wide-ranging implications on the security of the state.

“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.

“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’“ he added.

'Unanimous FC' is in a terminology that is associated with Supreme Court rulings especially when justices of the court deliver a full bench dismissal of political cases before them - a case in point being the 2020 election petition.

Mahama stressed that such perception and derision of the apex courts, is, “an unfortunate development. One of the scariest existential threat to any democracy is when citizens think their judiciary holds no value for them,” he added.