Mahama recommends judicial reforms to restore trust in judiciary

Former President, John Dramani Mahama, has recommended judicial reforms to restore absolute trust and confidence in Ghana’s judicial system.

He however added that the reforms must not be imposed by the executive arm but rather by collaboration with the judiciary.

Mr. Mahama averred that the reform is necessary due to diminishing public trust in the judiciary which must be the backbone of democracy and rule of law in the country.

“All opinion polling and other surveys that have been done show that the reputation of our judiciary is at its lowest and we all know what has contributed to this. There have been low level off credibility with the judiciary. Our people have always felt that there is monetary influence that influence judgement in both civil and criminal case and you remember the Anas exposure that led to the sacking of some judges,” he said.

According to the former President, the influence of the judiciary has metamorphosed into partisanship which has manifested in “bizarre” decisions on political related cases.

“But it has gone beyond monetary inducement. Now, it is also seen that the judiciary is partisan and a lot of people feel that justice is not served in many cases and we bear the brunt of that. You feel that the judiciary is partisan and in many cases some of the decisions are quiet bizarre. We do believe that there must be judicial reform. Indeed when you interview most Ghanaians they believe that there must be some reform of the judiciary in order to bolster its reputation and make it an independent institution that, not only Ghanaians but foreign investors and any person who is in the jurisdiction of Ghana can trust”.

He continued “so this must be something the executive cannot impose on the judiciary but the judiciary and the executive working together can work to improve the stature of the judiciary”.

Former President Mahama said this Saturday, September 2, 2023, when addressing the closing session of the 3rd Lawyers Conference organized by NDC Lawyers Association at Akosombo in the Eastern region.

He charged the legal team of the opposition NDC to as part of the discussions have a look "at how we as the executive and members of the judiciary can work together to improve the image of the Ghanaian judiciary. I believe that if the image of the judiciary is improved, it will inure to the benefit of those who work in the court, it inure to the benefit of the judges and judicial service workers.”