KUFUOR FIRES TSATSU

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has taken issues with Tsatsu Tsikata, a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for branding one of the justices who sat on the just ended Presidential Election Petition as pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Of all the nine justices that heard the petition brought by three leading members of the NPP, it was Justice Anin Yeboah who was singled out by Mr. Tsikata, for attack claiming that the judge allowed his political affiliations to cloud his judgment.

Mr. Tsikata who spoke on TV3’s Hot Issues last Saturday ended up virtually inciting NDC supporters against the judge, describing him as biased.

The programme was hosted by Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Managing Editor of Insight, and an affiliate member of the NDC Communication team.

Mr. Tsikata in the interview with Mr. Pratt accused Justice Anin Yeboah of consistently taking an opposing stance against the NDC’s arguments and positions during the hearing of the petition.

According to Mr. Tsikata, the judge had taken the stance because he was appointed to the Supreme Court during the NPP’s tenure in office under the presidency of Mr. Kufuor.

“I’ll tell you very frankly that it didn’t surprise me that Justice Anin Yeboah was consistently in that group”, Mr. Tsikata told Mr. Pratt.

He said “…Again I think that we all understand that the judiciary is made up of human beings. They have their own political ambitions and in his [Justice Anin Yeboah] case, he was appointed as a Judge by President Kufuor. He probably still has a certain loyalty to the cause of [Mr. Kufuor]”.

Kufuor’s Anger

The NDC counsel’s statement appeared to have incensed former President Kufuor who issued a statement through his spokesperson, Frank Agyekum, describing the comments as ‘unwarranted’.

“The Office of Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has noted with surprise and dismay attacks impugning the integrity of Mr. Justice Anin Yeboah one of the nine-member panel of Supreme Court Judges on the recent election petition case by Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, lead counsel for the National Democratic Congress.

“The Former President’s Office finds the comments that Mr. Anin-Yeboah voted in a certain manner because he was appointed into office under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to be unacceptable and unwarranted, especially because there is evidence that all the justices voted on three of the six main issues before the panel in one way and variously differed on the other three. 

“We wish to further put on record that as many as six of the nine justices on the panel were appointed into office under the NPP government and therefore it is unfair to single one out because a faction in the case finds the way he is purported to have voted unacceptable.

“This Office is fully satisfied that Mr. Justice Anin-Yeboah, is wholly qualified to be Supreme Court Judge as he was appointed to the position on merit. Mr. Tsikata with his long standing at the bar should be appreciative of this and refrain from making remarks that will bring the Bench into disrepute.

The former President cautioned Ghanaians to desist from making comments “that will threaten the peace and stability of the country.”

Merit

In a follow up interview, Mr. Agyekum said Justice Anin Yeboah like other judges gave judgement the way he knew it.

He said in three of the issues, all the nine judges voted against the petitioners. On the other three cases, they voted variously 5 – 4. So then how do you come out to say that Justice Anin Yeboah in all instances voted against the NDC.

That really is not on. And also for him to impute that perhaps Justice Anin Yeboah did vote the way he voted because of his appointment as a Supreme Court judge under the Kufuor administration is very unfortunate indeed.

“President Kufuor believed that Justice Anin Yeboah got to where he is because he was qualified to be there. He was there on merit and not on the altar of favouritism and so for anybody to impute that is very unfair to him and to the administration of justice.”

Even before Mr. Kufuor broke his silence on the Mr. Tsikata’s comment, the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie had also taken a swipe at the NDC lead counsel.

In a fiery response Sir John described Tsatsu Tsikata’s attacks as baseless and an attempt by him and his party to commence a campaign against the judiciary.

“If going by Tsatsu Tsikata’s logic, Justice Anin-Yeboah was appointed by Kufuor and as such owes his loyalty to NPP, then what do we say about the four judges who decided that no irregularity occurred in the 2012 elections to warrant a nullification of the tainted votes?” Sir John asked.

In a related development, a law lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Law School, Ernest Kofi Abotsi has cautioned lawyers who comment on the judgment to exercise circumspection.

He said although the panel of nine Judges may not be in place to summon contemnors before them, because the Judges' mandate had expired, the Court as an institution continues to exist and could still punish people whose comments were deemed to scandalise it and bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

He told Joy FM that "It is common for lawyers to be dissatisfied or unhappy with the outcome of Court decisions, for that matter verdict, [because] the whole law process is about...competition between lawyers...so it is totally natural for lawyers not to be happy about the outcome whenever a court makes a pronouncement. Having said that, it is unusual and it is totally unacceptable for lawyers to use words that are deemed to be unprofessional and in a manner that taints the reputation of the judiciary ", the law lecturer stated.