Fact check on 3 false claims made by Office of President in relation to Justice William Atuguba

In the morning of Saturday, 28th October 2023, the Office of the President, represented by one Dennis Edward Aboagye, also known as Miracles Aboagye, made a number of false statements on TV3’s programme, The Key Points, when discussing matters arising from our Public Lecture and Panel Discussion held on Tuesday 24th October 2023 at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana.

The false claims made by the Presidential Staffer are as follows:

(1) That, HE JUSTICE WILLIAM ATUGUBA IN 1992 STOOD ON THE TICKET OF THE NPP

Verdict: False

Facts: William Atuguba ESQ (as he then was) was never a New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate. There is preponderance of evidence that in the 1992 the NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Chiana Paga was Mr. Alowe Leo Kaba. A simple check from the office of the Electoral Commission would have saved the office of the President from such an embarrassment.

(2) That, TWO YEARS DOWN THE LINE, HE (WILLIAM ATUGUBA) DECLARED OPENLY IN CHIANA PAGA THAT HE WAS NO LONGER NPP AND SWITCHED TO THE NDC

Verdict: False

Facts: The only time that WILLIAM ATUGUBA as a member of the bar joined politics was in 1979 when he stood in Chiana Paga as a Parliamentary Candidate for Victor Owusu’s Popular Front Party (PFP), an adventure He soon after decided not to pursue and as such ended his campaign activities even before the polls. That was how He ended his political career if he seriously had one. William Atuguba was and has always been an independent-minded person.

(3) That, HE (JUSTICE WILLIAM ATUGUBA) WAS APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT RAWLINGS IN 1995 AS AN NDC MEMBER TO THE SUPREME COURT

Verdict: False

Facts: William Atuguba ESQ after years of private practice including as the Chairman of the then Upper Regional Investigations Committee and also briefly as an acting Special Public Prosecutor, had established himself as a man of integrity, having bantered and exposed some corrupt public servants, along the way. His appointment to the Supreme Court was therefore based on such widely-accepted impeccable track record and not based on membership of any political party, as falsely claimed by the Presidential Staffer. Justice Atuguba’s objectivity and independent-mindedness is a matter of public record.



CONCLUSION

Justice Atuguba’s admonishing was particularly to the judiciary to uphold their fidelity to the constitution and do justice to all manner of people. The substantive matter which was among other issues addressed by the Retired Justices, was whether substantial justice was done in the matter of Gyakye Quayson. In Justice Atuguba’s view, substantial justice was not administered and this fact of the matter is reasonably conveyed by all right-thinking members of the Ghanaian public.

It is surprising, that the Office of the President chose to ignore this matter and rather peddled those bizarre falsehoods, in an attempt to sweep those critical issues under the carpet.

It is public knowledge that governments generally are afraid of hard truths, and that it is only in rare moments that decent members of government would listen to hard truth and concede to the truth.

It is apparent on those effusions that, the Presidential Staffer’s presentation is tainted with outright falsehood and his understanding of legal matters are short.

It is the understanding of all jurists around the world, to uphold good and shun evil. We are convinced Justice William Atuguba will not relent in his efforts to work to sanitise the image of the Ghanaian judiciary which is at an all-time low, and further advance the course of constitutional governance in Ghana.

Signed

BENJAMIN ESSUMAN

(EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)