The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has issued a statement condemning President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for using their conference platform to engage in political campaigning against former President John Mahama.
Reacting to the comment made by Mr. Akufo-Addo, Saviour Kudze, the Public Relations Officer of the GBA, expressed his concerns on Eyewitness News, stating, “What the president said today is rather unfortunate and we condemn it.
He added that “the aspect we condemn has to do with his appeal to Ghanaians, in a way that resembles campaigning, to vote against Mahama just because he made a comment that President Akufo-Addo has allegedly packed the court with NPP-aligned judges, as described by President Mahama.”
Kudze continued, “And also bringing up the issue of the investigations allegedly linking former President Mahama to the Airbus scandal. Our platform is not supposed to be used for that, and we condemn that aspect of President Akufo-Addo’s comment. We are not going to allow anybody to use our platform to campaign politically for or against any opponent.”
However, the GBA clarified that they would not issue an apology to Mahama, as their condemnation of him in the past had been based on similar actions.
President Akufo-Addo had previously criticized Mahama for his recent remarks alleging that the judiciary had been influenced by judges aligned with the ruling NPP party. He described Mahama’s comments as “very dangerous” and considered them a “brazen attack on the independence of the judiciary.”
The GBA indicated that they shared Akufo-Addo’s concerns regarding the independence of the judiciary but disagreed with his method of addressing the issue. Their statement emphasized, “The GBA believes that the best way to protect the independence of the judiciary is to ensure that all politicians, regardless of their party affiliation, respect the rule of law and the separation of powers.”
The association called upon all politicians to refrain from making political statements during their conferences and urged them to respect the neutrality of the legal profession.