President Inducts 7 Justices Into the High Court

By Yaw Kyei

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday inducted seven justices into the High Court and urged them to conduct their activities with honesty, integrity and sound knowledge of the law.

They are John Ekow Mensah, Janet Anima Maafo, Afia NyakoAdu-Amankwa, Fredrick Tetteh, Mathew Kyeremateng and Joan Eyi King, all justices from the lower court, and John Eugene Nyante Nyadu, a legal practitioner.

President Akufo-Addo, at the inaugural ceremony at the Jubilee House, bemoaned the numerous allegations of corruption at the High Court, despite expose into judicial corruption by the ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremyaw Anas.

"This must not, and cannot be allowed to continue," he said and warned that any judge cited for misconduct would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

The President stressed the need for the High Court Judges to command respect from the public with the quality of their justice delivery as well as their comportment.

He said Article 140 of the constitution required the High Court to have jurisdiction in all matters and, in particular, in the civil and criminal matters and entreated the judges to work to uphold the law and promote justice delivery.

The President expressed displeasure with the situation where high court judges used lower court rulings as the basis for judgement or cited no law or authority at all in giving orders.

He said that occurrence was not acceptable, and urged high court judges to study their case law and ensure that their decisions and judgements were properly motivated

"Let me use this occasion to repeat that application of the laws of the land must occur in the hallowed walls of the Judicial Oath without fear or favour, affection or ill will; that is without recourse to the political, religious, ethnic affiliation or any person or object of justice... when a citizen falls foul of the law, any citizen, high or low, that citizen must be dealt with accordingly.

"The law enforcement agencies, including you our new judges, must ensure that this is done... that is the true meaning of the concept of equality before the law," he said

The President said every Ghanaian had the responsibility to work together for a united Ghana driven by considerations of social justice and solidarity, and the rule of law.

"We must in our time build a new Ghanaian civilisation, where the rule of law is not a slogan but the operating principle for the development of our state, where the separation of powers is real and meaningful, where public officials behave with honesty and integrity, where the liberties and rights of our people are fully protected," he said.

On his part, Justice John Ekow Mensah thanked the President for the honour done him and colleagues, and pledged to work harder in the new positions to justify the confidence reposed in them.

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