A former New Patriotic Party (NPP) deputy General Secretary has dismissed claims by former President John Mahama that the Akufo-Addo-led government has packed the judiciary with cronies.
Nana Obiri Boahen has said the claims by the former President are not true.
“It is not true that the judiciary has been packed with NPP cronies. I won’t mention names, but there is one person we all know is a staunch NDC supporter at the Appeals Court. It is dangerous for the former President to be talking about balance” he said.
The 2024 National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, speaking at the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference over the weekend, accused President Akufo-Addo and his government of piling the Judiciary with judges sympathetic to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NDC flagbearer said the move by the President is an attempt to avoid being held accountable when he leaves office, adding there are currently about 80 to 100 judges and still counting.
Mr Mahama therefore called on NDC members to take up careers on the bench in order to “balance out” the judiciary.
Reacting to the comments on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Monday, Nana Obiri Boahen chided Mr Mahama for making such unfortunate comment.
According to him, Mr Mahama must not to create the impression that only NPP sympathisers are being called to the bench because there are equally qualified NDC members there too.
To him, he will have no reason to oppose the appointment of such NDC members if they are called to the bench.
“There are a lot of qualified NDC lawyers and good materials for the Supreme Court and once you are in the legal profession, you will not complain about certain calls to the bench. People like Edudzi Tamakloe, George Loh and others are doing a fantastic job so some of them irrespective of their political colours are hardworking and deserving of such appointments,” he stated.
This notwithstanding, Nana Obiri Boahen who is also a lawyer said Mr. Mahama’s comment should be a wake-up call for the NPP.
“Mahama is just telling them that so far as you are an NDC lawyer, there will be a place on the bench for you. So we also need to form an association of NPP lawyers, even though the party, per our constitution, has a legal team. After November 4, I will seek an audience with Dr Bawumia and propose it to him going forward into the 2024 election,” he added.
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