By: Amponsah Stonash, Dep. Comm. Dir. - NPP-USA

After reading the transcript of the judgement of JSC Atuguba, as a street lawyer as I am, I felt the need to put this piece together.

The reading public would recall that on the first day of the sitting of the Justices of the Supreme Court on the historical petition, Atuguba made a very disparaging comments that seem to portray the petitioners as haters of peace. From that day, I knew something was up his sleeves; I knew he was up to something mischievous and diabolic. His judicial acrobatics in the Supreme Court, as covertly as it was, exposed his ulterior motive on the bench.

As the days of the proceedings went by, it became apparently clear that Atuguba was out for the kill to the advantage of the respondants; John Mahama, the Electoral Commission, and the NDC. It was written all over his face. His frequent, but calculated interjection of Philip Addison was nauseating. His infamous shout "sit down Addision" still resonates in my ears, not forgetting his soft-silky-voiced appeals to Tsatsu Tsikata. The least talked about his 9-0 trademark rulings in favour of the respondents, the better!

It became palpably clear that, the presiding judge, and who doubles as the uncle to the executive secretary of John Mahama, Raymond Atuguba, was not ready to let his nephew lose his job/appointment. The general public became aware of all these, thanks to the live telecast from the court room. There were alot of murmurous voices from the public which expressed their disaffection against the conduct of Atuguba on the bench. As peeved as the people felt, their splenic expression of disenchantment was made undertone. The ugly silence of the people about his antics further depeened when Sammy Awuku, Ken Koranchie and others were hauled before the court for contempt. Thereafter, his braggadocio became blossomed. "The law lies in our bosom" was many times heard from the Supreme Court Justice who turned demigod within that period of time.

But who was to speak the mind of the voiceless and silenced?

There appeared the Gen. Sec. of the NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie a.k.a Sir John. As the day-to-day manager of the political party on whose ticket the petitioners contested the 2012 elections, and empowered by Article 9 section F of his party's constitution, he called the shots. For there is an Akan proverb which when directly translated states that "if the royals do not fight, the servants run away from the battle field." Sir John fearlessly stood his grounds and fought as a gallant royal leading his subordinates on the battlefield.

He took Atuguba to the cleaners. He echoed the thought of thousands of Ghanaians who felt distressed but couldnt speak for fear of being hauled before the court for contempt which was fragrantly abused by Atuguba. It takes courage, fearlessness and a lot of bravery to take on the presiding judge of the Supreme court. To every action, there is a reaction. Atuguba reacted in equal measure. Sir John stoically bore the consequence which he had envisaged, but ignored, for love and commitment to party.

Then, there came litters of lampoons both from inside and outside the party against the Gen Sec. Many were those who were calling for his head for having taken Atuguba on. But, having read the transcript of Atuguba's judgement on the election petition, and having found out how he sarcastically downplayed the evidence of the petitioners in his judgement by saying "I am not aware of any judicial University that has awarded or conferred a graduate or doctoral degree on the pink sheet" - coupled with the delay of the pronouncement of the judgement (which I understand was triggered by verbal altercation among the judges in the chambers of the Supreme Court) - and the angry tone under which Atuguba delivered the judgement, I cannot but ask those, especially party folks, that, do they still stand by their public opprobium of Sir John for daring Atuguba? Per his (Atuguba's) judgement, he saw nothing wrong with the 2012 elections, yet, he proposed some reforms for future elections in this same judgement. He is indeed a walking contradiction with ugly judgement. Sir John was just right!

As a party we need not to always be in the haste to sending our leaders to the guillotine when dealing with the NDC. For this a party which is engaging in radical revolutionary politics. And it will take the fearlessness, courage, tenacity and tact espoused by the likes of Sir John to topple these inferior communist antics and clinge on to political victory in 2016 and beyond.

To the indefatigable, politically radical, courageous, brave, and no-fear-or-favour Gen Sec of the great Kukrudu, the likes of my goodself among many other party faithfuls in particular, and Ghanaians in general are behind you, unwaveringly. Ride on, Sir. Ride on!

amponsah.stonash@yahoo.com