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Manasseh Azure Awuni: Judicial terrorism versus “investigative terrorism”

Manasseh Azure Awuni: Judicial terrorism versus “investigative terrorism”

I’m not a judge, but it hurts because I have been in courtrooms and observed judges who deliver justice with such diligence, thoroughness, and professionalism that I could feel their pain when the action of a few judges drags all judges in the mud.

One such instance is the toxic social media commentary about the judiciary in the wake of the judgment in the defamation case Anas Aremeyaw Anas brought against the MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong.

When someone first shared excerpts of the judgment on a WhatsApp platform, my immediate comment was to caution those commenting not to attack Anas until they had read the judgment.

They were given an explanation.On the blind side of Anas and his legal team, Kennedy Agyapong had written to the Chief Justice to request that the interim judge should return to continue the case.

He added that Anas and his team were expected to have been served with Kennedy Agyapong’s petition and the Chief Justice’s directive.

Sussex Justices, added, “Nothing is to be done which creates even a suspicion that there has been an improper interference with the course of justice.”

The learned Chief Justice Anin Yeboah should have known that if Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko have a match and Kotoko unilaterally writes to the Ghana Football Association to appoint a named referee to officiate the match, Hearts of Oak and “the reasonable man” will not appreciate the fairness of the referee.

Besides, the reason given by Kennedy Agyapong and his team, being the “demeanour of the witness”, has been discredited by many sociologists.

To grant this problematic request for the stated reason was unfortunate.

The Chief Justice should have considered the fact that Anas had investigated the judiciary, which resulted in the dismissal of judges.

This should have cautioned the Chief Justice to handle in a manner that would not feed into this perception.

On the substance of Kennedy Agyapong’s petition, one of Justice Anin Yeboah’s predecessors, Chief Justice Georgina Wood, in the case of Agyemang (substituted by Banahene) v Anane [2013 – 2014] 1 SCGLR 241, said the following of witnesses’ demeanour.

“And yet, speaking for this bench as presently constituted, our judicial experience, cumulatively spanning a period of over a century has taught us that hardly does the demeanour qua demeanour of witnesses play a significant role when evaluating the credibility of witnesses.

Here is what the judge said of Kennedy Agyapong’s allegation that Anas was a murderer.

“On the allegation that plaintiff murdered former member of parliament Joseph Boakye Danquah, is consorting with his wife, and was responsible for the killing of some Chinese, defendant explained under cross-examination that he said so because plaintiff had alleged that he killed his colleague, Ahmed Suale.

Original Story on: MyJoyOnline
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