Tsatsu's comments undermine Supreme Court verdict

The post-election petition commentaries since last weekend have tended to focus mainly on the unfortunate comments made by Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, lead counsel for Nation Democratic Congress (NDC) in the just ended election petition hearing.

Mr Tsatsu made the comments to the effect that Justice Anin-Yeboah, one of the nine Supreme Court Judges that heard the election petition, allowed his political affiliation to cloud his judgment.

According to Mr Tsikata, he was not really surprised by Justice Anin-Yeboah's persistent and consistent opposition to the stance of the NDC because he was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The comments have been roundly condemned by many, including former President Kufuor, the Greater Accra Regional Branch of the Ghana Bar Association and renowned lawyer, Sam Okudjeto.

Public Agenda adds its voice to the numbers who have already condemned this unfortunate and reckless statement coming from Mr Tsikata, a lawyer of high repute.

In the view of the paper, Mr Tsikata's comments have not only maligned and scandalised Justice Anin-Yeboah, but also perhaps, more importantly, undermined the credibility of the very victory he contributed to win for the NDC.

The Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) 2010/2011 categorised Ghana's judiciary as “extremely corrupt. While the judiciary was ranked as the fifth most corrupt institution in Ghana,” according to Ghana Integrity Initiatives' Voice of the People 2011. This year the judiciary was rated as the third most corrupt institution in the country, according to the (GCB).

Thus if after eight months of an election petition hearing, a seasoned lawyer suggests that a member of the panel voted according to his political allegiance, then he is invariably telling Ghanaians that the verdict is tainted with political corruption and hence casts doubts on the outcome of the proceedings.

Public Agenda in its Friday August 30 edition, carried a front page story captioned Ghana's Democracy Waxes Stronger. The headline was informed by Nana Akufo-Addo's gracious acceptance of the election verdict even though he disagreed with it and urged his supporters to embark on a path that builds rather than destroys.

Even though Nana Addo's message was to his supporters, it was the conviction of this paper that it was to all Ghanaians. Thus, for Mr Tsikata to embark on a path that seeks to sow seeds of discord by his comments is most regrettable.

We, therefore, add our voice to the numerous calls on Mr Tsikata to retract his unfortunate comments and render an unqualified apology to Justice Anin-Yeboah. His ossified stance of not ready to render apology is counterproductive to peace and unity.