‘What we must not do is to bastardize the courts’ – Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister-designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has charged petitioners to desist from bastardizing the court when their prayers are not upheld.

According to him, a democratic Ghana must at all times operate under due process and the rule of law. He addressed journalists at the end of the Supreme Court’s sitting for today.

“We have now come into a democratic era, so everything including justice, the rule of law is hinged on the constitution and is hinged on the law. So justice is what we expect to be done in this matter and we expect that it is done in accordance with the law.

“That is why whatever prayers we have we will say it before the court, they will rise, think through it and they will come back. What we must not do is to bastardize the courts when we don’t get our way,” he added.

He claimed that the petitioners had made it a habit of celebrating the court when proceedings go their way and lashing out if not. The second respondent has been consistent, a trait he entreated the petitioners to adopt.

“You notice that our friends when they don’t get their prayers upheld they come here and they say it doesn’t make sense, they are not being fair.

“Today when some of their arguments are upheld, they say the court is the best court that they have seen. So they must be consistent, we have been consistent from day one,” he asserted.

For the better part of today, February 5, the court heard submissions on witness statement for the petitioner’s third witness, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo. Five of his 34-paragraph statement were struck out by the justices, hearing continues on February 8 at 9:30 am.