Minority Blasts President & Chief Justice and....

The Minority in Parliament has registered its displeasure about the recent closed-door meeting between President Kufuor and the Chief Justice, E.K. Wiredu, at the Castle describing it as an act of serious indiscretion.

The Minority said the closed-door meeting held last week has the real potential of casting doubt on the integrity and independence of members of the judiciary. The Chief Justice told the media after the meeting that the discussions centred on problems confronting the judiciary in the discharge of its duties.

In a statement signed by Mr. John Mahama, the Minority argued that problems confronting the judiciary in the discharging of its duties are matters of public interest and any such discussions should have been carried out in an open meeting with the media in attendance.

“As it is, the subject of discussions at the closed-door meeting is now a matter of speculations,” the Minority said, and expressed objection of holding the meeting at the Castle, the seat of the executive arm of government, saying if there were even the need for such discussions, it should have been held on a neutral ground.
The Minority said recent events had created uneasiness in a section of the population about the impartiality of the judiciary, in cases involving the government. It referred to the cases brought against the executive in respect of the appointment of service commanders and the Chief of Staff without the constitutionally required consultation with Council of State.
The Minority said hearing, of those cases were unduly delayed until they became moot. A comment by the Senior Minister, J.H. Mensah, at the last NPP congress that the NDC party would ceased to exist at the time the case brought before former officials are completed, gave credence to that, noting that the closed-door meeting between President Kufuor and Chief Justice Wiredu came shortly before a legal challenge has been initiated before the Supreme Court about the constitutionality of the fast track court.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Minority says it will seek audience with the Chief Justice to register its protest and raise its concern about the integrity and independence of the judiciary
The Minority in Parliament is seeking audience with the Chief Justice to register its disapproval over a recently held meeting between the President and members of the Judiciary. The group’s efforts to meet Justice E.K. Wiredu on Tuesday through the Judicial Secretary failed.

But Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin told JOY FM that efforts to meet the Chief Justice will continue on Wednesday. The minority is unhappy that a delegation of the judiciary led by the Chief Justice met President Kufuor behind closed doors at the Castle to discuss matters, which it claimed, related to problems confronting it in discharging its duty.

The minority says the meeting has the potential of casting doubt on the integrity and independence of members of the judiciary. The group is particularly concerned about the meeting and is making a case out of the fact that recent statements by leading government officials have suggested that the executive is aware of the eventual outcome of political cases pending before the courts.