Felix Ofosu Kwakye, an aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, has hit back at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s criticism of his boss’ remarks of alleged judicial bias, describing it as the “most irresponsible and reckless” any president could ever make.
In an interview on Eyewitness News on Monday, Ofosu Kwakye said Akufo-Addo’s statement had vindicated Mahama’s position that the judiciary was packed with judges aligned with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“Nobody is surprised that the legal wing of the NPP also known as the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has given this platform to President Akufo-Addo and the Attorney General to throw tantrums and attack the person of the former president. It vindicates the position we raise that Ghana’s entire judicial and legal architecture is an NPP appendage. Number two, the president has said some powerful things since he took power and this has to come as the most irresponsible and reckless statement any president can make.”
Ofosu Kwakye also accused Akufo-Addo of hypocrisy, pointing to the president’s own history of making controversial statements about the judiciary.
“He seeks to question how responsible former president Mahama is and says that because former president Mahama has criticised the judiciary, he should not be voted for,” he said, adding, “Even President Akufo-Addo who formed terrorist groups, calling them delta forces, invincible forces and brought in mercenaries to train these terrorist groups to challenge the authority of the state was elected by the people of Ghana. So I can assure President Akufo-Addo that given that former president Mahama is a very sober and more reflective person than he is, then the people of Ghana will elect former president Mahama.”
Akufo-Addo had earlier addressed the Ghana Bar Conference at the University of Cape Coast, where he strongly criticised Mahama’s comments, describing them as “very dangerous” to the progress of the country.
“I have gone into this matter in detail because of a new issue which has been introduced into our public discourse by no less a public figure than the fourth president of the fourth republic, John Dramani Mahama who has told the world that I have packed the courts with so-called NPP judges and that one of the key purposes a putative NDC victory in 2024 will be to enable him to balance the courts with so-called NDC judges,” he said.
“Not only are these concepts new in our public discourse but they are also extremely dangerous and represent the brazen attack on the independence of the judiciary by allegedly responsible politicians.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Bar Association has called on both Mahama and Akufo-Addo to respect the independence of the judiciary and to refrain from making further statements that could undermine its authority.
