Controversial And Corrupt Judge Dismissed

Mrs Elizabeth Anderson Yebuah, a former Chairman of an Accra Circuit Tribunal has been dismissed from the Judicial Service by the General Legal Council for bribe taking and corruption. According to Concord unimpeachable sources at the Judicial Service, the General Legal Council, the apex legal body of the bar and the bench, charged with the responsibility of ensuring high standards in the legal profession and under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice Wiredu, last Wednesday, voted overwhelmingly to expel Mrs Elizabeth Anderson Yebuah from the bench for taking ?80 million from an accused person in a murder case.

The members of the legal council who handed down the decision to expel the judge are the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nana Akuffo Addo, and the Director of the Ghana Law School. Others are the president of the Ghana Bar Association, Paul Adu Gyamfi and the Judicial Secretary, Mr Owusu Ansah, who has no vote.

Concord could not reach Mr Owusu Ansah to comment on the decision. His deputy, Charles Agbovor, however confirmed that the General Legal Council met last Wednesday but told the Concord that he has neither seen nor been briefed on the minutes of the meeting and was therefore not in a position to confirm or deny the dismissal.

Mrs Anderson Yebuah whose controversial decisions have landed many persons in jail only for the jail terms to be quashed on appeal, has been a subject of internal investigation on charges of travesty of justice, bribe taking and corruption for sometime now. Her trial began on April 16, this year. Investigations into her stewardship as a member of the bench and subsequent trial were triggered off by numerous petitions submitted by lawyers, litigants, and the general public in response to Chief Justice Wiredu’s invitation to the public to report allegations of corruption by judicial officers.

The sacked judge was reported to have taken ?80 million from the accused persons in an attempted murder case, which was before her. In the course of the trial, one of the accused persons openly bragged that Anderson Yebuah will never send her to jail but would rather fine him. At the close of the trial and true to the accused’s words, Mrs Anderson Yebuah imposed just a fine on him for attempted murder charge.

Prosecutor A. S. Sarpong, dissatisfied with the decision and suspicious of a fishy deal, filed a petition at the office of the Chief Justice. The petition, together with several other complaints led to the trial and subsequent dismissal of the judge by the General Legal Council last Wednesday. Two years ago, Mrs Yebuah, jailed a couple whose son had been captured by commandos loyal to ex-President Rawlings and kept in a holding room at the Castle, Osu.

Mrs O’Sullivan Djentuh, mother of Selasse Djentuh, former lover of Ezanetor Rawlings was jailed together with her husband on charges of disturbing public peace and deceiving a public official because they had gone to the Castle to search for their son.

The dismissed judge was also involved in numerous cases involving the Christ Apostolic Church and its General Secretary, Reverend Augustine Annor Yeboah in which she was alleged to have collected huge sums of money from the church in order to jail some former members of the Church who had hauled the church to court. Most of these people who were sent to jail by Mrs Anderson Yebuah, were all acquitted and discharged by various regional tribunals in Accra for lack of evidence.

Mrs Elizabeth Anderson Yebuah, a former Chairman of an Accra Circuit Tribunal has been dismissed from the Judicial Service by the General Legal Council for bribe taking and corruption. According to Concord unimpeachable sources at the Judicial Service, the General Legal Council, the apex legal body of the bar and the bench, charged with the responsibility of ensuring high standards in the legal profession and under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice Wiredu, last Wednesday, voted overwhelmingly to expel Mrs Elizabeth Anderson Yebuah from the bench for taking ?80 million from an accused person in a murder case.

The members of the legal council who handed down the decision to expel the judge are the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nana Akuffo Addo, and the Director of the Ghana Law School. Others are the president of the Ghana Bar Association, Paul Adu Gyamfi and the Judicial Secretary, Mr Owusu Ansah, who has no vote.

Concord could not reach Mr Owusu Ansah to comment on the decision. His deputy, Charles Agbovor, however confirmed that the General Legal Council met last Wednesday but told the Concord that he has neither seen nor been briefed on the minutes of the meeting and was therefore not in a position to confirm or deny the dismissal.

Mrs Anderson Yebuah whose controversial decisions have landed many persons in jail only for the jail terms to be quashed on appeal, has been a subject of internal investigation on charges of travesty of justice, bribe taking and corruption for sometime now. Her trial began on April 16, this year. Investigations into her stewardship as a member of the bench and subsequent trial were triggered off by numerous petitions submitted by lawyers, litigants, and the general public in response to Chief Justice Wiredu’s invitation to the public to report allegations of corruption by judicial officers.

The sacked judge was reported to have taken ?80 million from the accused persons in an attempted murder case, which was before her. In the course of the trial, one of the accused persons openly bragged that Anderson Yebuah will never send her to jail but would rather fine him. At the close of the trial and true to the accused’s words, Mrs Anderson Yebuah imposed just a fine on him for attempted murder charge.

Prosecutor A. S. Sarpong, dissatisfied with the decision and suspicious of a fishy deal, filed a petition at the office of the Chief Justice. The petition, together with several other complaints led to the trial and subsequent dismissal of the judge by the General Legal Council last Wednesday. Two years ago, Mrs Yebuah, jailed a couple whose son had been captured by commandos loyal to ex-President Rawlings and kept in a holding room at the Castle, Osu.

Mrs O’Sullivan Djentuh, mother of Selasse Djentuh, former lover of Ezanetor Rawlings was jailed together with her husband on charges of disturbing public peace and deceiving a public official because they had gone to the Castle to search for their son.

The dismissed judge was also involved in numerous cases involving the Christ Apostolic Church and its General Secretary, Reverend Augustine Annor Yeboah in which she was alleged to have collected huge sums of money from the church in order to jail some former members of the Church who had hauled the church to court. Most of these people who were sent to jail by Mrs Anderson Yebuah, were all acquitted and discharged by various regional tribunals in Accra for lack of evidence.