A Supreme Court judge, Justice William Atuguba has chastised the Attorney Generals Department and the judiciary for allowing corruption to erode their good credentials.
[contextly_sidebar id=”wBLt8LBeC1YYvTWxBekxstOmEWydk6QQ”]He made the statement at the 42nd week celebration of the University of Ghana Law School on Monday.
He remarked that “from the glorious days of the Bar Association which stood up consistently and strongly for the rule of law, today the same cannot be readily said. There is a wide spread perception that party politics has eaten into its ranks and clouded its potent militancy.”
Justice Atugaba further bemoaned what he described as the emergence of party politics in the Judiciary.
According to him, the partisan politics has further caused the office of the Attorney General to lose its glory in the society.
“…the Attorney General’s office has also lost much of its glory. Its operation cannot be fairly marched with the days of A.M.E, Amissah, Taylor, Antwi Darko etc.”
The Attorney Generals Department has widely been criticised for failing to win any of the landmark corruption cases in recent times, fuelling speculations that the department has been compromised by politicians.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings angrily stated when businessman Alfred Woyome was acquitted and discharged of causing financial loss to the state and defrauding by false presense, said, the AG’s department allegedly aided him to walk.
The Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood has also on several occasions spoken against the perceived corruption in the judiciary.
Justice Atuguba opined that the credibility of the judiciary has also waned because of the poor conditions of service and noted that “this downward turn of affairs can seriously damage the economy and retard national development.”
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana