The Director for Governance, Justice, and Peace for the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Rev. Fr. Michael K. A. Quaicoe says there is a need to restore trust in the judicial system.
He cited a former U.S. President, Barack Obama, stating that nations require strong institutions, not strong men, and Ghana should strive to build such institutions.
Rev. Fr. Quaicoe explained that strong institutions must function in a manner that ensures every citizen can trust them to fulfill their mandate without compromise.
Speaking on the JoyNews‘ AM Show, Rev. Fr. Quaicoe said, “So, if in fact, there are some constituencies of our country who have lost trust in our system, this time talking about the judiciary and others.”
“It is important that we all work towards restoring that trust because it is the bedrock of any collaboration; otherwise, if people have a lack of trust in the system, they won’t collaborate with the system and therefore would find other means of resorting their own redress.”
He noted that trust, particularly among political parties, requires the appearance of a level playing field without any party receiving undue advantage.
Rev. Fr. Quaicoe also stated that political parties should be bearers of honest news and conduct their campaigns with a level of honesty that assures citizens they will not vote based on negative portrayals of opponents.
“Because we do not gain much by demonizing others, yet the political party must also be willing to collaborate with institutions of state, especially the electoral commission and all those state apparatuses which must collaborate for this peace.”