SUPREME COURT OR SUPREME GODS III: THE PARABLE OF PLATO’S CAVE

by dr. Samuel adjei sarfo

The response I received from Part Two of my article sufficiently distinguished those who live in the real world outside of Plato’s cave and those still chained to its floor, gazing at images which they mistake for reality. The Parable of Plato’s Cave is an allegory used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work “The Republic” to illustrate our nature in its education or lack thereof . In this parable, the persona Socrates describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners. He returns to the cave to try to educate the prisoners who only hear gibberish and insist that the philosopher has gone mad. I was very impressed to find that many people, like the liberated philosopher, see the truth in its purest form and have broken their chains of ignorance and transcended from gazing the wall of judicial tyranny represented by Atuguba and his pose of rogue judges. Others still remain chained in the cave, hysterically insulting the philosopher who returned to tell them the truth. The words of the following contributors said much about the traditional wisdom of the discerning Ghanaian who is not only educated but also born with enlightenment established in his very genes:

The commentator called Okofo wrote:

How could the same judges who feel offended or scandalized be permitted to adjudicate this case? The subjects before them were pre-judged, and were given NO CHANCE to argue out their right to freedom of speech. This is a mockery of our justice system!! It MUST stop else discerning Ghanaians will render it unsustainable by challenging it in the near future!! ………..So I ask you, who calls judges to order? Or we should assume they are NOT fallible? The precedent they have set now is that, when we open our mouths we MUST consult them first since we DON'T KNOW what constitute "contempt" right? Nyansasem wrote: "It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!-- Patrick Henry

Dr. SAS, this piece needs to be written in gold and placed in front of the Supreme Court to honor Justice Cecelia Koranteng Addow, Justice Sarkodie and Justice Agyepong. They have died in vain and the lawyers that sit in the supreme court, pass by their statues. The Bar Association should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe law schools should be abolished in our country so that our elders or chiefs take over our courts.

I wonder if the people will cry and demand justice should anything untoward happen to those cowards parading themselves as justices in the Supreme Court as they did in the case of those three Judges who were murdered. What Atuguba and co are saying is this: the three judges should have shut up and let peace prevail, instead of fighting for freedom and justice for the ordinary people. Yes, you are right, freedom and justice should not be slaughtered on the altar of peace. I have said, those who are supporting this backward mentality by our supreme court judges are doing so because they only think of their party that is in power or tribe because their man is the President………. And oh yes, the judges have become the supreme gods in our country. When you start wearing those robes like monks with 10 lb horse hair on your head and people start bowing to you and calling you, "your honor, my lord," what do you expect? Did you not realize the power they have to draw as many "final touchlines" they want? What about the power to "strike" differently; one for the "mere you" people like Ken Kuranchie and another for the "highly placed" individuals like Sir John? I do cry for my people who will be on the receiving end from these Negro Ass Crackers on the Supreme Court. At that time, they will understand why Patrick Henry preferred Liberty to anything; without liberty, death is what he wanted and not peace. Thank you for your piece.

A. Nyamaa also wrote: Shall we all keep quite while people lose their liberties? Is that what we are supposed to do? Some of these matters have been decided already. The judgements on Kuranchie, Atubiga and Awuku are now part of our legal history and it is legitimate to hold them to scrutiny, my friend. I very much agree with your opinion. I felt they had no way of defending themselves; if they did they will be automatically imprisoned. This is very sad for democracy and freedom of speech. I felt Justice Atuguba took the whole issue too personal.

Nyamaa added: Justice Atuguba behaves like and angry demigod who must be pacified. More worryingly he smells the blood of his stricken foes and gloats in his awesome powers. He delights in humiliating his victims before passing sentence. Guilt is established long before the contemnor appears before the court. On this particular occasion the contemnors were only asked to show why prison sentence should not be imposed. What a charade? How much more liberty can the court take? The Bar Association is a disgrace and their members are united in a nauseating bid to protect the credibility of this Court. "Turkeys don't vote for Christmas.

Ayikoi-Otoo, now celebrated as the most prolific lawyer, behaved like a chief priest to a deity who was only there to offer blood sacrifice as propitiation to appease the nine anger-stricken "gods". His clients' guilt was already established and there was no legal advocacy available. All there was left, it seems was groveling and mitigation. There is now a long wait within which every citizen must do obeisance to the Atuguba deity.

Criticism of the judges is now treated like fixed penalty offences for which, it seems, no defence is available. Yet in most civilized jurisdictions, fixed penalty offences are clearly defined and the tariffs are clear. He also wrote:

Nobody wants Rwanda in Ghana.

Akuffo Addo, even if he wanted, cannot turn Ghana into Rwanda. A man intent on visiting mayhem on his country will not go to court first?

The idea that somehow after judgement has been passed, somebody can instruct his supporters to turn Ghana into Rwanda is preposterous and those who claim this nightmare scenario know it. It is deliberate ploy to create a phantom threat and amass the preconditions to clamp down on individual liberty.

Yesterday, George Bush and Tony Blair created and exaggerated a threat that never was and used it as a pretext to slaughter close to a million people in Iraq. To use the perceived threat of civil strife after the petition has been determined is bogey. The threat is neither real, present nor imminent. Ghana is not Rwanda. Let us put more civic education in place so that we can tolerate other people's cultures and views without feeling threatened. But by all means let us have a trustworthy security service that we can all rely on to keep the peace and Ghana together. Nyamaah again wrote: I did not understand Sir John as threatening anybody. An admonition to be careful cannot be tantamount to a threat. Kuranchie did not threaten and Awuku did not either. Adorye threatened but quite clearly his threat was not aimed at the justices and his matter was a question for law enforcement and the state security. Look, depriving a man of his liberty is a serious matter and it cannot be for a judge feeling offended or abused even.When Dr. Raymond Atuguba asserted publicly, without any proof that Judges of the Superior Courts are bribe takers, was he in contempt or not? Did you hear about "killing a cat" by Kwabena Adjei, NDC Chairman?

Baffour of London wrote:

Dr you have hit the nail right at the top. I am not a lawyer but the way these supreme court judges are doing is very bad and I think it is about time someone takes them on. I am glad you have taken them on, and I plead that you write personally to Ghana Bar Association and also the Chief Justice since you are a lawyer. If care is not taken these half baked judges like Atubuga will use the power they don't have to silence everyone. I hope you will do this for mother Ghana. Thank you. Kofi Boateng wrote: I think your article is excellent and gives insight to people who sincerely want to study law and know it. I think that our law practitioners ought to be bold and shun cowardice to prevent one person or a group of persons from usurping the powers of the state to reintroduce the culture of silence. Wish Ghana has ten lawyers like you. Awwww mother Ghana, kafra.

Kwame - Ivy Attorney -San Diego:

I'm often amazed of the way some folks put forth their way of thinking on this site!! A truly sad state of affairs!! No wonder Africa is in the state it's in!! The few who stand up without fear to express their independent way of thinking are often vilified, often by folks filled with utter envy of their compatriots who have been very successful even in "foreign lands!!"What a shame!!! Uncle Mends, Takoradi:

I agree with the writer - the law of contempt needs to revisited by Parliament. Parliament creates laws and Judges interpret them. In this case it appears the Judges are creating and interpreting laws. Though their actions may be seen as protecting the nation from chaos or violence, it sets a bad precedent.

My good and wise friend Amma wrote:

Public Tribunals is exactly what Atuguba wants, not an enlightened court in a democracy. I wonder where he was in the PNDC days, seeing as he now laments of some perceived standards falling because of political parties. I believe what he yearns for is to bring back the Rawlings' PNDC days and him the head of it all so he can put the fear of human gods in poor Ghanaians. The sick joke of the Supreme Court of Begging Ghana

Kobena wrote:

Sam, this is an interesting piece, but I am sure that many people on the forum are going to take you to the cleaners! It is all symptomatic of failed education system from kindergarten to university level. The text books, journals are all archaic. Some lecturers have cellotaped their notes from the time of Adam, and are still dictating them to their students.

A friend of mine who visited a university in Ghana a little while ago says, "the students want you to repeat your cough, so they can write it down." There is very little independent critical thinking. I have recently examined MSc. theses that read like my essays back in secondary school! It shows in every aspect of our national life. That is what makes it possible for GYEEDA, EOCO, Woyome, and others to happen. …..Unfortuntely, while the concepts of freedom you have written about existed at the time of Sir Arku Korsah and Edward Akufo-Addo, they are now completely alien to Ghanaians, as we grapple with Stone Age notions!: AUTO wrote:

Some aspects of the piece could have been better; less abusive, but in all, a good one. I'm a lay person but very surprised that this is happening in Ghana. He's behaving like a school headmaster dismissing students without informing the parents……

Finally, Pabro Correa wrote:

Regarding the cases of Sir John and Hopeson Adorye, I have studied what exactly they said carefully and the law of contempt as it stands now. Though what they said appears to be abusive and a bit over the top, there's nothing within their sentences that has interfered directly with the facts of the 2012 election petition in court comparing to what John Mahama has been saying so far. I want any lawyer here to come out and say the opposite. Though we all want peace, that does not mean we should allow judges to make a mockery of what exactly the law says on contempt and act only to put fear in people that will tend to criticize their conduct and fairness in a case pending before them. Wishing for peace does not necessarily means we should allow people to impede the way to justice. Let us examine what Sammy Awuku said and was called for contempt, he was concerned that the conduct of Atuguba in court regarding the way he treats Tsatsu and issues regarding the petitioners is unfair. This can't be contempt under the present law as is now; I have great difficulty in believing this to be .I see this as a criticism on issues which could not have interfered with the facts of the case in court. He was only criticizing the conduct of a trial judge and only questioning his fairness. Judges have too much power when it comes to contempt of court issues and it's reckless for a nation not to properly define what exactly is contempt and what judges could do or not do when faced with likely contempt. At the moment, nothing like that do exist so if you for example smile at a judge who makes a mistake in his speech, he can summon you for contempt to appear before him and believe me, he can if he wishes to do so and no one can check his activities and bring it under control. Even the chief justice cannot. This is absolutely wrong in this present modern age of freedom of expression. Currently fanatics within the bench could use this tool to put fear in people who would talk about their conduct in cases before them. Judges at the supreme court have been acting as both jurors and judges in contempt cases brought before them so far. This is what my white colleagues saw as stone age tactics and we will be reckless as a nation to let this continue in the way and manner that Atuguba has initiated. We are not living under a dictatorship; we live in a freedom of expression world. This …. cannot happen in advanced countries so we Ghanaians must see something wrong with this. Currently the peace of this nation is already placed in harm's way by the way the 2012 elections was conducted and only the truth, real justice and interpretation of the facts and laws governing elections will uphold the peace but not an attempt to put fear in people in the way and manner Atuguba has initiated via contempt of court cases. It is pretty sad for a nation like Ghana. Conclusion: These are not the only commentators that transcended Plato’s cave and saw the light in the real world. However these significantly saw the thematic preoccupation of my article and made intelligent comments about it. As a caveat, I acknowledge that there are a few others waiting to transcend the difficult path of enlightened thinking. These are hanging in soporific levitation in Plato’s cave, and will need some nudging to rise up to speak the truth courageously to power.

But many commentators have been gazing at the wall of the cave forever, and there is no hope for these lost ones. All of them are chained to the cave floor by their pathological hatred, blatant insults, unfounded accusations, outright lies and baseless assumptions. They are the benighted ones incapable of intellectual analyses…people whose dumb comments are only coextensive with their extreme linguistic halitosis. (And by the way there are sufficient scientific reasons to link unintelligible articulation with unintelligible language and rotten teeth!).

Samuel Adjei Sarfo, Doctor of Law, is a General Legal Practitioner and a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas which comprises lawyers who are also scholars. You can email him at sarfoadjei@yahoo.com