-With unguarded pronouncements
By Francis Xavier Tuokuu
A concerned Ghanaian lady, Madam Tricia Longton is warning the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the media not to jeopardize the lives of judges of our courts over their unguarded statements in respect of cases before the law courts.
In an exclusive interview with The Al-Hajj over the weekend, Madam Tricia bemoaned the manner in which the NPP and its media acolytes discuss cases pending before the courts, pronounce judgment and in some cases mete out sanctions and this according to her could one day cause a judge to lose his or her life.
“The NPP with their media allies are putting judges’ lives in danger by sitting on cases, pronouncing judgments and even giving sentences in the media, this I believe will one day lead to the lynching of known judges on the streets of Ghana for cases which go contrary to the media verdict”, she warned.
According to the concerned Ghanaian, the pronouncements of some elements of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and their media cohorts could be putting the very existence of the judiciary and the lives of our judges in jeopardy by their prejudicial comments which, to a large extend; can affect the outcome of cases before the courts.
Madam Tricia Longton said there are many instances when the media and the NPP functionaries and supporters brazenly, and with impunity; passed judgments on people perceived to be their political foes whose cases are before court in the media, which according to her “is very dangerous”.
She cited the ongoing ‘Woyomegate’ saga as one in the latest of such cases the opposition NPP and the media have unduly bastardized.
Businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who has been charged with conspiracy to commit crime, defrauding by false pretences and corrupting public officials in the controversial GH¢51 million judgment debt has virtually been pronounced guilty by the NPP and the media.
Nana Akomea, the NPP’s Director of Communication has said on several platforms that, the NPP believes government could have saved the nation that money paid to Woyome and that the whole process smells fishy and a grand collusion between Woyome and the government to defraud the people of Ghana.
The Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baaku Jnr., a known NPP lackey has also said he is convinced beyond doubt that the judgment debt paid to Alfred Woyome is a grievous mistake and that president John Mills should take ultimate responsibility for it.
According to Madam Tricia, the media in most developed democracies set the agenda for national development apart from their watch-dog role over the other arms of government.
She reminded Ghanaians that it was such unguarded utterances that led to the Rwandan genocide in 1994 where an estimated 800,000 people were killed in the space of 100 days. The Rwandan media played a major part in supporting, or creating an atmosphere to sanction the terrible human tragedy that ensued and this we do not want to see in Ghana.
