The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has said the attacks on the judiciary by Ghanaian broadcast journalist Kevin Taylor does not only affect the individual judges mentioned in his broadcasts but also undermines the country’s rule of law.
This follows what the association refers to as “the incessant attacks on the Judicial Service by one Kelvin Taylor on his social media broadcast, dubbed, ‘With All Due Respect-Loud Silence Media.’”
In a statement issued by JUSAG and signed by its National President, Alex Nartey on Tuesday, 2 February, 2020, the association said: “The Judiciary is an arm of state established to resolve conflicts according to law; impartially and efficiently to all manner of persons without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. The Judiciary has over the years played this sanctified role within the dictates of the 1992 Constitution. It has existed over one hundred and forty years.”
JUSAG explained that, it “exists first and foremost to play various supporting roles to ensure that the Judicial Service lives up to its constitutional mandate. The association has in the past expressed its contempt over the surge in inflammatory statements and irresponsible behaviour by some individuals and their proteges on the nation’s airwaves as well as the wider online social media platforms.”
It noted that it will “not sit-by and allow some selfish individuals to tarnish the image of the Judicial Service.”
According to JUSAG, Mr Taylor “has resorted to making wild unsubstantiated allegations with the aim of maligning the image of the Judicial Service, which we find as unacceptable and condemnable.”
Citing some of Mr Taylor’s unprintable allegations in addition to “other unsavoury attacks on Justice Sophia AB Akuffo, former Chief Justice Clemence J Honyenuga, Justice Eric Kyei Baffour,” the association described these as “totally unacceptable.”
It continued that: “Those comments if not an attempt to incite hatred among the general public, or to ridicule the Judicial Service, it is no less a blight on the administration of justice within the Republic of Ghana. Having a duty as Ghanaians to protect mother Ghana, we wish to make it clear that the attacks on the Judicial Service do not only affect the individual judges he mentions, but also undermines the rule of law that Ghana as a nation is nurturing.”
The association therefore admonished Ghanaians “not to buy into such unsubstantiated allegations by individuals like Kelvin Taylor who will bastardise our sacred institution in pursuit of his personal interests. The principle has always been that ‘he who alleges must prove. ‘If any individual has a reason to doubt the integrity of any member Judicial Service, the best thing to do is to follow the procedure that will allow him/her to show proof.”
It further called on all and “sundry to treat these unsubstantiated allegations with the contempt it deserves. Comments by unscrupulous persons who do not mind, send Ghana into a state of anarchy in order to score cheap political points.”
JUSAG also called on Mr Taylor to “revise his modus operandi and do the right thing by presenting proper petitions to the appropriate statutory bodies in Ghana for investigations. Anything short of this, is an affront to the rule of law, and same must stop immediately.”
Source: classfmonline.com