The Justice Dotse Factor: Why former NPP PC rose to become a Supreme Court judge within 4 years – Manasseh Azure

Renowned investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has given the reason behind the rapid rise of the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Ho, Ernest Yao Gaewu, to the Supreme Court of Ghana, in his latest publication "The President Ghana Never Got".

The journalist, in the 17th chapter of his book, which is titled "How One Supreme Court Judge Was Appointed to Appease Another", said that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was criticised by most Ghanaians over the appointment of Justice Gaewu to the High Court and subsequently to the Supreme Court, with them accusing the president of packing the bench with NPP faithful, but there was more to the appointment than politics.

He indicated that Justice Gaewu’s sudden rise to the apex court of the land, unknown to many Ghanaians, was an appeasement to a Supreme Court judge President Akufo-Addo had failed on two occasions.

He disclosed that the now-retired Supreme Court justice, Justice Jones Mawulorm Dotse, whom the president promised but failed to appoint one time as Chief Justice and on another occasion as Speaker of Parliament, was the person being appeased.

Manasseh Azure stated that sources close to the president indicated that not appointing Justice Dotse as the Speaker of Parliament second to his appointment of Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor was the worst decision he has ever taken.

He indicated that President Akufo-Addo had assured Justice Dotse that he was going to be the NPP Speaker of Parliament nominee until the judge was dropped at the last minute for former Speaker Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye to seek re-election.

“Multiple highly-placed sources confirmed to me that Akufo-Addo had nominated Justice Jones Dotse in late December 2020. The nomination was communicated to him with the instruction to resign as a justice of the Supreme Court and prepare for the January 6 election and swearing-in. The judge accepted the nomination but asked for an official letter on which to base his resignation. He argued that he could not act without a letter in hand, but the letter was yet to be sent to him when he heard in the first week of January that Prof. Mike Oquaye had been retained as the President's nominee for Speaker.”

To appease Justice Dotse, Akufo-Addo decided to appoint Justice Gaewu, the protégé of the retired judge, to the Supreme Court.

“A top NPP politician, who did not want to be named, argued that if Akufo-Addo had kept Justice Dotse's nomination for the Speaker position, the NPP's choice for Speaker would have won. Some NDC MPs from the Volta Region, the home region of Justice Dotse, would have voted for him. Regional or ethnic solidarity, according to some MPs, is sometimes stronger than party affiliations when issues came up for voting in Parliament, especially during appointments.

“Having lost out on the positions of Chief Justice and the Speaker of Parliament, President Akufo-Addo decided to placate Justice Dotse. Sources say appointing Justice Dotse's protégé to the Supreme Court despite the criticisms and the obstacles Justice Ernest Gaewu faced at the vetting committee of Parliament, was to appease Justice Dotse for the disappointments he had suffered. Sources close to Justice Dotse told me that Justice Ernest Gaewu was appointed on merit, without the influence of his mentor,” part of the book reads.

It added, “Justice Gaewu's elevation to the Supreme Court shocked many and drew more criticism. Some judges have served diligently, risen to the Court of Appeal and have since been stuck. Other deserving ones are marking time, waiting to be elevated to the High Court or the Court of Appeal but have been overlooked many times because they do not catch the eyes of the politicians.”

The journalist also said that the president's initial appointment of Justice Gaewu to the High Court was a mistake because he wanted to appoint him to the Court of Appeal.

He added that his sources indicated that Akufo-Addo complained about the mishap to Justice Dotse during Justice Gaewu's swearing in as High Court judge in 2020.

BAI/NOQ

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