A legal practitioner and a leading member of the National Democratic Congress, Mr Chris Ackumey has stated that he has evidence to prove that a judge in 2008, took a bribe of GHS 500, a situation he says is a clear indication that there is corruption in the judiciary.
Mr. Ackumey has therefore maintained that if he is invited to prove his case by the General Legal Council, he will not hesitate to provide detailed evidence on the allegation.�I am saying there is corruption and I am challenging anybody who wants to prove me otherwise and I will mention the names; at least I will mention the name of a judge, the amount the judge received, the year and the date that he received it and other people who were privy to it,� he stated.
Mr Ackumey, who was a panelist on Joy FM�s current affairs programme Newsfile on Saturday said he was shocked at the reaction of the judges to the matter and that if they had taken time to critically examine the issues at stake, they would have hesitated in taking such a drastic decision.
When pushed to the wall by host of the programme, Samson Laadi Ayenini to mention the name of the judge, Mr Ackumey said he will make that information available at the appropriate time but stated that the judge took GHS 500 from four individuals in 2008.
In a communiqu� signed by the Executive Council of the Judges and Magistrates Association on Tuesday, the group expressed worry about increasing cases of what it says are unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against the Judiciary.
It cited specific comments by four lawyers, Dr. Raymond Atuguba, David Annan, Abraham Amaliba and Larry Bimi.
The four lawyers made the comments at a round-table discussion on the Judiciary and Ghana�s justice system in Accra, organized by the National Commission for Civic Education as part of its annual constitution week.
But Mr Ackumey insists Article 21 (b) of the 1992 constitution which says: "All persons shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief which shall include academic freedom," allows individuals to have opinions on key issues without facing intimidation from anyone.
He said Dr. Atuguba and Mr Larri Bimi were merely making academic contribution at a forum and that they were re-echoing a phenomenon that everyone is already aware of.
�What these gentlemen have said, is it anything different from what the previous Chief Justice and the present Chief Justice have been saying? Is it not an issue known to everybody that the judiciary is corrupt or perceived to be corrupt and therefore there is a need to clean the judiciary?� he quizzed.
He went on to explain that judges can be biased for many reasons and this can affect the dispensation of justice. He said judges can be corrupted socially, politically and economically and that it is necessary to consider the issue dispassionately.
He indicated that the action of the judges towards the four lawyers is an affront to their economic rights.
He however stressed that �we are not saying all judges are corrupt. That is not correct,� insisting, there are some of them who are corrupt and that "If I had been given the opportunity like the other lawyers are going to be given the opportunity to appear before the General Legal Council, I will put the facts before [them].�
But the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, who was also a panelist on the programme disagreed with this position saying the judges could have used the Complaints and Courts Inspectorate Division of the Judicial Service which was established in 2003, to bring these corrupt judges to book.
He said the lawyers should have taken advantage of this mechanism to help find a lasting solution to the problems in the judiciary instead of making allegations without backing them with evidence.
According to Mr Baako, even though he respects Dr Atuguba, he believes such a comment was uncalled for and does a lot more damage to the integrity of one of the sacred institution in Ghana�s democratic process.
As far as he is concerned, it was not fair for Dr. Atuguba to create the impression that his uncle was a clean judge whiles painting the picture as though all the other judges are not.
He said this will lead to the bastardization of the judiciary which can destroy the system.
He further urged the lawyers to use the appropriate systems in place to "name and shame" the culprits in the matter in order to help strengthen the integrity of the judiciary.
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