Judge on bribery charge trial

An Accra circuit tribunal judge is on her third day of inquiry into allegations of bribe-taking following submitted petitions of bribery and perversion of justice.

Mrs Elizabeth Anderson-Yebuah, noted for passing a string of bad judgements and unsafe convictions which have been tumbling on appeal, is currently experiencing a role-reversal of being stared down by another judge appointed as a sole commissioner to look into allegation that she took ?80 million in an attempted murder case that she was sitting on.

The Chronicle learnt that one of the parties on the case bragged during the trial that he would never be sent to jail but only get a fine. Whether by coincidence, happenstance, or influence peddling he got exactly that judgement in the case which involved a land. The way the case was handled, how it progressed plus the nature of the judgement provoked one of the parties in the case to lodge a formal complaint to the Chief Justice’s (CJ) office, which has made ridding corruption in the judiciary objective of the office.

Even before he was confirmed as CJ, Mr Justice E.K. Wiredu had invited members of the public who had any evidence against judges to forward such complaints to his office. By lunchtime on Wednesday, this week when Chronicle visited the circuit tribunal office of the judge who gained prominence when she threw Mr and Mrs Djentuh, parents of Sellasie, into prison (boyfriend of former First Daughter Ezenator Rawlings), her office appeared to be deserted.

Court sources told Chronicle investigators that they had noticed movement as if she was packing off and leaving her office. It was subsequently gathered that she was already on a transfer list, bound for Ho. Her transfer had been delayed due to the fact that her official bungalow in Ho had not been fully renovated. She had already been put on notice by the Judicial Service not to take on any new cases but dispose of her part heard cases, numbering about 11 before proceeding to Ho.

Trips from one of many people who had filed complaints led to the discovery that Mrs Anderson-Yebuah was already facing questioning before retired judge Justice Owusu Sekyere as sole commissioner. She was being represented by counsel. The complaint had been filed by one Faithful Atsu. Two of the judge’s clerks, Vida and Stella, had also been ordered to appear before the commissioner and had actually put in appearance.

According to one lawyer familiar with the case Mrs Anderson-Yebuah had denied the bribery charge even before she appeared before the retired judge. Two witnesses who had come to testify Inquiries at the Judicial Service headed by Mr Aryeetey confirmed that an inquiry had indeed begun but is still ongoing.

Among a number of judgement that had been overturned on appeal, the most celebrated was the one involving the Djentuhs, where she was severely criticised. The other one involved the very controversial Bishop of Christ Apostolic Church, Augustine Annor-Yeboah, where the Regional tribunal attacked the judgement and overturned her judgement and ordered that a pastor at the Tema Community 4 branch of CAC be acquitted and discharged from a four-year prison sentence which Annor-Yeboah had testified as the principal prosecution witness.

Another petition before the CJ’s office involving Mrs Anderson-Yebuah involves her handling a case involving Lady Tamara and a case of stealing of a wrist watch belonging to her ex-boyfriend, a Lebanese businessman.