The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and four other bodies have condemned last Thursday’s attack on the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) Circuit Court by members of the Delta Force, a political vigilante group aligned to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The four are the Christian Council of Ghana, the National Peace Council, the Ghana Trades Union Congress(GTUC) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The five entities described the act as an affront to the independence of the Judiciary, an attack on the rule of law and a threat to the country’s democracy.
They, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to immediately re-arrest the 13 persons who were ordered by the court to be remanded and asked the Minister for the Interior to, as a matter of urgency, take steps to ensure the immediate disbandment of the Delta Force and all other vigilante groups that had sprung up in the country.
Some members of the Delta Force stormed the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) Circuit Court last Thursday to free 13 of their members who had been arraigned for forcibly throwing the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator out of office last month.
The 13 persons who were charged with the offence of conspiracy to commit crime, assault on a public officer, causing unlawful damage and preventing a public officer from doing his lawful duty were to be remanded in custody and reappear on April 20, 2017.
However before proceedings could end, they were taken away by some members of the Delta Force in clear disobedience of an order by the KMA Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Mary Nsenkyire, that they be remanded into prison custody to reappear on April 20, 2017.
A statement issued by the GBA and signed by its President and National Secretary, Benson Nutsukpui and Mr Justin Amenuvor respectively, described as “sickening and horrifying to watch the said videos of persons using violence as a means to defy the court’s orders. The GBA condemns in no uncertain terms this blatant disregard for the orders of a duly constituted court of law and attack on the judge in the discharge of her lawful duties.”
The statement said the police officers who were present in and around the courtroom did their best to protect the judge, while the alleged members of the defiant group destroyed some court property.
The association said the attack by some members of the Delta Force was “blatant disregard for the orders of a duly constituted court of law and attack on the judge in the discharge of her lawful duties.
Such glorification of violence, dastardly acts and threat to our Judiciary cannot be tolerated or allowed under our democratic dispensation.”
It further stated that the action by the members of the Delta Force to disobey the orders of the court, attack or threaten to attack the judge and also endanger the peace of the country was totally unacceptable.
The association noted that any system that allowed an individual, group of persons or institutions to disobey orders made by a court of competent jurisdiction also undermined the independence of the Judiciary, thereby creating room for anarchy, chaos and lawlessness.
Speaking in an interview, the General Secretary of the Christian Council, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, said the council read a statement issued by the Ghana Police Service “with some level of discomfort,’’ reports Severious Kale Dery
“We condemn the conduct of some members of the Delta Force and consider the act as an attack on rule of law and a threat to our democracy,” he said, and added that political party activities should not cross the line of criminality.
He said claims by the group that they were promised rewards when the party came to power, must remain in the party circles.
Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong described the ransacking of the law court as “shameful and does not speak well of us and the democracy.”
He was worried that the act could affect investor-confidence and ultimately affect the one district, one factory policy of the government.
Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong explained that bearing in mind that a group could attack the Judiciary, an investor wishing to invest in the country might have to think twice.
He appealed to the patrons and financiers of the group to take responsibility and further appealed to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to keep his word that he would ensure the rule of law.
For his part, the Chairman of the National Peace Council, Very Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante, described the act as “an unfortunate situation and very bad development in our democratic governance in this country.”
He said there was no reason why anybody should take the law into his/her own hands and believed that they had the powers to do whatever they were doing, especially in the context of the rule of law that the country had accepted to follow.
Very Rev. Professor Asante reminded Ghanaians that anytime a party was brought to power through the ballot box, it was the majority of the people who had opted for that and “therefore, the government in power,is a government for all of us, and it is important for us to draw a clear distinction between governance and party.’’
Very Rev. Prof. Asante said the attack by some members of the Delta Force was a development that should be nibbed in the bud, describing the group as ‘’lawless and illegal” that did not have any mandate to operate.
He, therefore, said if a group should move into a courtroom and act as it happened last Thursday, it gave a cause for people who believed in democracy and were peace loving to be worried.
Making reference to the police, Very Rev. Professor Asante asked the Police Service to assure Ghanaians that they had what it took to provide them the security that they needed.
In a related development, the GTUC has added its voice to the condemnation of the attack on the court by some members of the Delta Force.
A statement issued by the GTUC and signed by its Secretary General, Dr Yaw Baah said: “We have followed media reports of the attack on the Circuit Court in Kumasi by the so-called “Delta Force”. There have been reports of similar attacks in recent past perpetrated by the same group.
“We condemn such attacks on innocent Ghanaians who are performing their official duties. This is a shameful act and an affront to rule of law.
The statement said the GTUC was encouraged by the assurances from the ministers for the Interior and National Security that any member of political vigilante groups involved in such acts would be dealt with in accordance with the laws of Ghana.
“These statements are a step in the right direction. But statements are not enough to prevent such attacks.
“Ghanaians are, therefore, waiting anxiously to see the action government will take against the groups involved in such despicable acts and those who are funding such activities,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is demanding the resignation of key security officials for their failure that led to Thursday’s raid at KMA Circuit Court in Kumasi where 13 suspects standing trial were freed.
In a statement issued in Accra, the NDC asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante-Appeatu, the Interior Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, and the National Security Coordinator, Brigadier General Emmanuel Okyere to resign for failing to deal with the violent activities of vigilante groups.
“It is extremely shameful that less than 100 days after being handed over a peaceful Ghana by the outgone NDC Administration, the Government of President Nana Akufo-Addo has shown unprecedented levels of weakness, gross incompetence, and an inability to maintain the basic tenets of law.
“The Judiciary is the last bastion for the protection of our fundamental human rights as a people, as well as the maintenance of the rule of law in a free and democratic country like the one that we have worked tirelessly for decades to establish for ourselves.”
The statement appealed to the President to act swiftly to bring the members of Delta Force who perpetrated such unfortunate act to face the law to redeem the image of the country.
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