<<Print>>

Lawyer Chris Ackumey says the decision by the Chief Justice to substantiate his claim of a judge taking GHC500 bribe will set the ball rolling for more evidence on how corrupt some judges are, enabling the Chief Justice enough grounds to cleanse the judiciary. �As I talk to you, I continue to receive text messages from people, police men giving instances, and others; so I believe this will give the Chief Justice to be aware of the real situation so as to tackle it in the best interest of the nation,� he said. Lawyer Chris Akcumey was speaking on the Big Bite on Xfm 95.1. He had alleged that he knew of a judge who took GHC500 bribe and promised to name the judge when called upon. His allegation of bribery was to support similar allegation by four other lawyers, David Annan, Dr Raymond Atuguba, Mr Larry Bimi and Dr Abraham Amaliba. A letter signed by Justice Julius Ansah , a Justice of the Supreme Court and Director of the Complaints Unit of the Judicial Service gave Mr. Ackumey May 31, 2011 as the deadline for him to respond to the invitation. Lawyer Ackumey who welcomed the decision of the Chief Justice to substantiate his claim, however, prayed judges who would be named would not be vilified, but rather, serve as an opportunity for the Chief Justice to know the gravity of corruption in the institution. He said a task like this will take �one or two very bold people to come out and provide the evidence�, adding that, �I know that I am setting the ball rolling�. Lawyer Ackumey said he would initiate the processes to substantiate his claim from Thursday. �I will get in touch with my Lordship, Justice Julius Ansah tomorrow (Thursday), so as to direct me as to the modalities in which the evidence should take. By the close of the week, I would provide him with the evidence; the names of the people, telephone etc, so that if they want to contact them to corroborate the story, they can�.