The Akans have a tested and well-proven adage that goes as, “It is not the same day that you cast a stone across river Volta that you will suffer rib pains” – “Enye eda a wo beto ebo3 atwa frau no na mpafene behini wo”.
All discerning Ghanaians will bear me out that the verdict pronounced by Supreme Court Justice Atuguba on the Election 2012 petition filed by Nana Akufo Addo, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia and the late Okanta Obetsebi-Lamptey of NPP against the Electoral Commission and the then presumptive Ghana President John Dramani Mahama came as a great shock to many. All those who monitored the proceedings very closely thanks to the live telecast of the court sittings, deliberations, submissions of proofs, arguments and cross-examinations of principal witnesses etc., could clearly tell which party was winning the case.
However, on the Day of Judgment, the Presiding Judge of the 9-member panel of Supreme Court Judges, Justice William Atuguba, took barely four minutes to deliver what became an infamous Court judgment of the century that cast shadow on the credibility of the Ghana Supreme Court worldwide. On this particular day, the Supreme Court gave birth to, or created, a monster, that would forever come to torment Ghanaians and later, the judges themselves.
God had through the petition, if the judges had ruled correctly, pronouncing their judgment based on the credibility of the facts and evidence submitted by the plaintiffs, but not on their hidden devious desires and collusion with the defendants, sought to save not only Ghana but also, the entire continent of Africa from monstrous dictatorships very ruinous to the socio-politico-economic emancipation of Africa.
Failing to live up to expectation and the ethics of their profession, this 9-member panel of Supreme Court judges, failed not only Ghana but also, the whole of Africa. For if they had pronounced a verdict based on the truth as seen on live television and heard live on radio coverage of the proceedings, no African incumbent President or government would have dared to rig election again as the ruling of Ghana could become a precedent to be cited by other countries in their future instances of electoral litigations. However, the Court failed Ghana very woefully probably for what the judges stood to gain personally.
I stand to be corrected if I make a mistake here. Did Justice Sophia Akoto Bamfo or Justice Adinyira in her submission ruling statements not say, “We need to protect the peace that we have been enjoying since we were children, dating from our fathers’ time, so we shall not do anything to disturb that peace by judging otherwise. We need peace so we need to protect the peace other than deciding differently to disturb that peace”.
She knew very well that their decision to rule in favour of the presumptive President, John Dramani Mahama, and the Electoral Commission was wrong; it was not in consonance with the truth but for the fear of not ruffling the feathers of the overtly lawless NDC people who were perceived by the judges to be able of causing chaos in Ghana if they ruled differently, or for the fact of been influenced by some underhand dealings as later to be revealed by the Managing Editor, Alhaji Suraju Musah Mohamed, of The New Free Press based at Abavana Down in Accra.
The Supreme Court erred by not being principled enough to seek to achieve JUSTICE, the first cardinal pivot on which their profession revolves but they allowed certain personal sentiments, unfounded fears and the skeletons in their cupboards, probably, to dictate to them as sought to be justified by Justice Akoto Bamfo or Adinyira.
How dare the Supreme Court seek the prevalence of PEACE first before JUSTICE? Why do we call them, the judges I mean, the Justices of the Court but not the Peace of the Court? They have to find out why. This is because their primary duty or objective is to ensure justice is sought and maintained. With justice prevailing, peace will obligatorily follow up.
By their failure to do the right thing on that D-Day, but fell into the trap of the evil, they helped create a monster of the type in the story of Dr Henry Jekyll & Mr Edward Hyde. The monster (Mr Hyde) that Dr Jekyll helped to create, came back to make his life and very existence miserable. Similarly, the NDC and President Mahama that the Atuguba Supreme Court irresponsibly helped to come to power for reasons only best known to the 9-member panel, have turned first on the judges to exterminate. This is the price to pay for being dishonest in the execution of your entrusted duties.
The NDC scumbags want the judges to taste the bitterness of their own prepared concoction. Where is the wisdom in what they did a few years back? I hope they will learn a lesson from this, and be guided by it to do the right thing at all times in future.
Having said this, I stand shoulder to shoulder with the judges in their fight against the lawlessness of the NDC. We cannot sit on the fence while the NDC threaten the lives of judges, wreak all sorts of havoc on the nation and the people therein. No way!
Going back to the famous Akan proverb cited above, the Supreme Court judges are suffering the consequences of their action taken in year 2013 on Election 2012 petition today, July 2016. They did not suffer it there and then hence the practical justification of that wise Akan adage.
Let us all bear in mind that we stand to benefit from, or suffer from, the actions that we take today, in a future date, hence we have to be judicious in whatever we do especially, when power or confidence has been entrusted to us.
I call on all discerning and the suffering Ghanaian masses to rally behind the judges in their now just dealings with the lawless ones within the society, especially those within the NDC family.
Again, I call on you to VOTE FOR NANA AKUFO ADDO AND THE NPP in the upcoming 7 December 2016 general election for there must be a change of government from the callous NDC to the more humble and caring NPP.
I dedicate this publication to my recently deceased friend, Pentecost Elder Ben Mensah of Paris, France. May his soul rest in perfect peace. He was such a principled and brilliant person who believed in justice for all and often extensively discussed Ghanaian politics with me. I do also remember Mr Kofi Basoah of Asante Juaben, he is such an honest man who believes in justice and then peace. May he be blessed!