Ghana's acting chief justice Edward Kwame Wiredu on Wednesday defended his conservative legal views as he spoke of his belief in the use of capital punishment and the criminal libel law.
"I believe in capital punishment, death for death. Your life should be taken on the basis that you killed," he told a public hearing of the Appointments Committee of Parliament following his nomination for the position of Chief Justice by President John Agyekum Kufuor.
While saying there were instances where persons who had killed might be spared the death penalty, he insisted capital punishment was necessary.
Wiredu, who criticised the repeal of the criminal libel law, said this had created a void and called for more powers for the Media Commission to sanction offending Journalists.
"My views on the criminal libel are personal. I cannot ignore a law the legislature has passed. I am bound by it.
"I am to interpret the law as I find it and not how I think it should be. I'm only saying that let's put some teeth in the mouth of the Media Commission."
"People talk about criminalising speech. I don't understand that expression. I'm a Christian and I believe that people should not make up stories about others," the judge said to the admiration of many members of the Appointments Committee, notably, NDC’s Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni who also has similar views about the repeal of the law. The MP could not help but openly praise the judge for the frank expression of his opinion on these controversial matters.
He had openly expressed reservations about the repeal of the criminal libel law, which journalists and lawyers had demanded should be expunged from the statute books.
Justice Wiredu, who was sacked by Rawlings’s Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in 1986 for alleged corruption, said he was reinstated after he petitioned Flt.-Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, Chairman of the Council.
He said prior to his petition, he had received a letter from the then Chief Justice Sowa showing sympathy and pledging his personal support for him.
"It has never been my aim to make money or else I would not have left private practice. I had then spent 17 years on the bench. I had requested to meet my accusers to tell my side of the story."
He said that if confirmed, he would build a vibrant, dynamic and independent judiciary and redeem its sinking image.
