A former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Betty Mould Iddrisu, has taken yet another swipe at the judiciary over what she describes as a failure to reform to address widespread negative public perception but rather adopting threats to silence critics.
Mould Iddrisu, who is Ghana’s first female Attorney General, described attacks on the former president, John Dramani Mahama, as unfortunate, undemocratic, and a slap in the face of Ghanaians demanding fairness from an institution bestowed with powers to protect dictates of the 1992 constitution.
She condemned the current AG, Godfred Dame, stressing that she can only forgive him for abusing the platform he had during the recent Bar Conference in Accra.
“Very unfortunate for a young Attorney General, Godfred Dame to come out with such statements about our former President. He was disrespectful and very upsetting to me, having held that position before. I forgive him because I am a Christian and it’s an act of charity,” she told Eric Ahianyo on IDEAS Exchange, a current Affairs program on TV XYZ.
Mould Iddrisu, who could not hide her emotions, emphasized, “Article 125 of the Constitution says quite clearly that the administration of Justice is vested in the people of the Republic of Ghana and it is the judiciary who is to administer that. If you did listen to the people how on earth can you administer justice for us? They need to listen to us. This should be a wake-up call.
“I chaired that conference of NDC lawyers, which John Mahama addressed. And all of us enthusiastically support his remarks about the perception of Ghanaians’ waning confidence in the judiciary.”
Explaining her position further, Betty Mould Iddrisu said being a leader of the Bar (Attorney General), does not give anyone the right to use a GBA meeting to create such chaos.
She disclosed that she has not paid her dues as a lawyer for the past 10 years because of the partisan actions of such persons who lead the Ghana Bar Association.
“Our lawyers were extremely upset. I have never had much faith in the Ghana Bar Association because it lost its capacity to withstand external influences. We saw them at critical times during the previous regime because it’s obvious they are favouring one political party or the other. I will pay my dues when I feel the GBA will be fair, a true arbiter of the interest of all lawyers in Ghana,” she emphasized.
She added that this development must be a wake up call to the judiciary.
She argued that several public surveys and observations by renowned lawyers and civil society organizations have drawn similar conclusions in the recent past.
“John Mahama was just asking them to look within, assess what various persons are saying, step out and speak to ordinary Ghanaians themselves and find out what their perception of the Judiciary is.
“It is sad to see and hear the barrage of unjustifiable attacks leveled against the former President. Hundreds of lawyers present at the conference supported the President not because they are NDC but because 99% of them practice at the bar. They go to the Courts daily and they know what is happening in the courts, yet many may be afraid to talk because they will be victimized,” she added.