...on Election 2012 Petition ?
As I do not suffer fools kindly and also do not patronise the corrupted view of Ghanaians on the adage, "the whirlwind will settle at last" –literally, "it will cool down in the end" ("Ehuru a ebe dwo"), I still feel it an obligation to discuss Justice Atuguba as and when the need arises. He was honoured to preside over a landmark case in Ghana but little did Ghanaians know that he was going to prove himself a disaster to future public elections. Not only did he prove himself a tyrant, but a disgraceful partisan, in the pursuit of, and administration of, justice .?
?"For starters I would state that the Judiciary in Ghana, like its counterparts in other jurisdictions, does not readily invalidate a public election, but often strives in the public interest, to sustain it", said William Atuguba (JSC) in his personal verdict statement.
? In whose interest did Atuguba pronounce that flawed judgment that has ridiculed Ghanaians in the eyes of many an intelligent person abroad? Was it not probably only in the interest of himself and those on his panel allegedly induced by bribe with the usual corrupt fellows belonging in the shameless "greedy bastards, babies with sharp teeth and old evil dwarfs" government and party??
?From the above myopic view protectively held by Justice Atuguba, it vindicates all those who raised objections to him sitting on the case let alone, presiding over it. He approached the case with a jaundiced viewpoint from the outset as could be read from his written verdict statement indicated above even though some people, had raised an alarm about him having some conflict of interest in the case. The direction of his voting on every single irregularity of statutory violation raised by the petitioners tells it all about the warped mentality of Atuguba, a likely misfit in the legal profession, yet for political reasons, Jerry John Rawlings appointed him a Supreme Court judge. ?
?What benefit is the verdict delivered by William Atuguba and his other eight Supreme Court judges to the Ghanaian let alone, serving as a case study of any relevance to University Law students? What interest to a nation does the citation of the judgment as a case reference be, if not rather to negatively justify the dastardly intentions by an incumbent leader or government to rig elections? Is it not simply to enhance the perpetuation of election rigging, abuse of power by the Electoral Commission and to strengthen the hands of government to involve in corrupt practices with impunity??
?William Atuguba has either no respect for the 1992 Constitution, or he does not understand Constitutional law and hence, the interpretive distortions as read from his personal verdict statement on Election 2012 petition. That being the case, all or most of the cases he has already presided over might have suffered error of judgment, I am afraid.
? His attitude reminds me of what the late Emmanuel Marfo, alias Kwame Nyame of Asante-Oyoko, who was more of a brother to me than a friend, once told me. He said, in conversation with his late uncle, Justice Agyapong, an Accra High Court judge cowardly murdered in cold blood by the Provisional National Defence Council government with or without the permission of Rawlings on 30 June 1982, he posed a question to him. The question had to do with educational qualifications of judges and precisely, that of his uncle. Justice Agyapong answered, "Some judges may have studied abroad, earned higher qualifications, yet, they are unable to give fair judgment". Kwame was marvelled at the brilliance and fairness of his uncle in every court verdict he pronounced. Was not this attitude of his to live up to the truth, live above reproach coupled with his refusal to join the PNDC government when approached by Rawlings in search of legitimacy for his military junta that cost him his life in the end?
? Is Justice Atuguba’s verdict not exactly what the late Justice Agyapong, a martyr, deplored? Could he give a fair judgment as per the observation of legal luminaries, the wider public and other discerning Ghanaians who watched the Election 2012 court proceedings live on airwaves? My answer is a BIG NO. However, this is a judge that Rawlings, himself a supposedly Messiah come to liberate Ghanaians from tyranny and hardships but ends up compounding their woes manifold, wants us to celebrate.
? Unfortunately, some people including the Chief Justice, out of fear, are admonishing Ghanaians to put the Supreme Court verdict on the back burner to forge ahead to build Ghana. What really pisses me off is when they say, "after the successful Supreme Court case". What nonsense and underestimation of intelligence that is. How on earth could this verdict be claimed a success? Is it not in Ghana that such a corrupted verdict could equate with success? Yes, "In the land of the blind, one-eyed man is king". No wonder therefore that in Ghana, Atuguba is a celebrated role model to the judiciary.
? If I could, which of course I can’t, usurp the powers of the British queen for a fraction of a second, I would confer a knighthood on Justice William Atuguba for making a mockery of justice and by his verdict ridiculing the Ghana judiciary. I would call him Sir William Atuguba for epitomising the corruptibility of the Ghana judiciary.
? Underlying the his outward public show of serious bravado was a weak persona of a complete coward ready to take to his heels. Just after the declaration of his laughably insane verdict, he went into hiding, then fled to the airport to enplane to the US like a frightened dog scurrying away from danger with its tail tucked in-between its legs.
He is living within the sphere of his own cocoon-like set of precious, but unfortunately, deceptive and limited mindset of rules to apply to landmark cases brought before him as it was in the case of Election 2012 petition. This is my personal view.
? HATE ME, BUT FOR A GOOD REASON.
? Rockson Adofo ?
