Judges didn’t sign up to be poor – High Court judge

A High Court judge Justice Kyei Baffuor has stated that although judges do not expect to be rich when they rise to the bench, they do not expect to be poor either.

“Going on the bench to be a judge is a calling just like someone going to the priesthood. It is not an avenue to enrich yourself, but I must also say that when you go there it does not also mean that you have signed a bond to be poor.

“It depends on the motivation that takes you there; If you want to help develop the law, if you love being on the bench; that the issue of dispensing justice is what you want most, then you will find being on the bench fulfilling and a place to be, but where your primary motivation is to be rich at a faster pace, then you will be very disappointed,” the judge told Nii Arday Clegg host of Morning Starr on Starr 103.5FM Friday.

The integrity of Ghanaian judges has been called into question following the expose of the alleged corruption in the justice fraternity by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

Some 34 judges and magistrates and over 140 judicial staff were caught on video taking bribes to influence cases before their courts.

Seven High Court judges and the 22 magistrates and lower court judges who were implicated in the scandal have all been suspended by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council.