Appointment of judges must be based on merit, not on cronyism, ethnicity – Atuguba

Retired Justice of the Supreme Court, William Atuguba, has emphasized the need for appointments to the judiciary and other governance institutions to be based on merit rather than factors such as protocol, cronyism, ethnicity, or improper considerations.

“The current public image of the Judiciary in Ghana is reflected on Social Media,” he said while delivering a public lecture in Accra on Tuesday, October 23.

He added “In view of all this what matters most is the realistic auditing and restructuring of the Judiciary and indeed all other governmental institutions because just as the cyanide of illegal mining galamsey has devastated our forest lands and poisoned our water bodies so also has the cyanide of Political Corruption poisoned our Governance Institutions.

Appointments to the Judiciary or any other governance institution must be made by thoroughly independent bodies based on nothing but merit and not on things like protocol, cronyism, ethnicity, or other improper considerations.

“The governance institutions particularly the Judiciary must be realistically insulated against presidential and other political pressures.

Bokpin of the University of Ghana, Prof Agyeman -Duah of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), recently Dr

“I also wish to acknowledge some of the many Civil Society Organisations such as Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, Ghana Integrity Initiative, Citizen Ghana Movement, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Parliamentary Network Africa, Penplusbytes, Media Foundation for West Africa, Send Ghana, One Ghana Movement, Centre for Democratic Development, Democracy Hub, Occupy Ghana, and Institute for Democratic Governance