Indicted High Court Judge, Justice John Ajet -Nasam, has been dismissed by the Judicial Council for allegedly accepting bribes to influence justice in the investigative video produced by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Anas and his Tigereye PI firm in a two-year painstaking investigation that put the spotlight on corruption in the judiciary, captured some 34 judges and magistrates and nearly 100 judicial service staff taking bribes.
“President John Dramani Mahama has directed the removal of Justice John Ajet-Nasam and Justice Ernest Obimpeh from office as Justices of the High Court on grounds of stated misbehaviour” a statement from the office of the Judicial Secretary said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”OCCLmjekHs2y8VqHPF8LE7OUb8smSkFZ”]These removals follow a directive from President John Dramani Mahama, who accepted the recommendations of a five-member committee that investigated some 12 indicted High Court Judges, in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
Justice Ajet-Nasam is arguably the most popular amongst the indicted judges following his dismissal of a state suit brought against businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome in the Ghc51 million judgement debt scandal.
During the committee’s sittings to probe the matter, Justice Nasam failed to appear before it, ignoring several invitations sent to him.
There were unconfirmed reports he had left the country in an attempt to escape the hearings of the committee.
The removal of the two High Court Judges follows the dismissal of 20 lower court judges indicted in the same judicial corruption scandal in December 2015.
Some of those lower court judges were denied their end of service benefits whereas a few others were given for the reason that they showed remorse for their actions.
The Judicial Council is yet to determine the fate of other High Court Judges and some judicial service staff, also named in the scandal.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AfanyiDadzie