Why Did Ghanaians not Ask Foreign Judges to ...

....Preside Over Election 2012 Petition?

? My daughter in her resolute establishment and expression of opinion that the Supreme Court judges were not going to declare verdict in favour of the petitioners asked, "Dad, why did Ghanaians not ask foreign judges to sit on the case?" She said, for such a landmark case, Ghanaians knowing how corrupt their judicial system is, should better have arranged foreign or White judges to hear and determine the case instead of using the local judges. For failing to do that, even though the petitioners have credible evidence, the judges will never judge in their favour to remove the sitting president".

? Since she was born, bred, and schooled in Europe without open to the scale of stinking corruption in Ghana, she wonders why Ghanaian judges could still not live up honourably to the ethics and expectations of the law profession? Is it down to incompetence, stupidity or mere acts of deliberate desire to behave irresponsibly as they are noted for, she queries?

? I shall try to restrain myself from being vituperative but if in the course of my discourse I do veer towards that path, then so be it. Her argument has always been, foreign judges, especially Whites, unknown to any of the litigating parties can hardly be approached to have them bribed. One may not know how they would react to any offer or proposition of bribe to have them decide the case in one’s favour. This inability to buy them over, will compel them to tell only the truth as based on evidence gathered and interpreted applying relevant laws.

? Unlike the White or foreign non African Countries judges who are competently versed in the law and its deliverability, the Ghanaian judges have their legal lenses obscured by corruption and deliberate quest to have nothing to do with truth but lies. I would side with my daughter to suggest that a provision was made for having foreign judges sit on such landmark cases to enhance the future delivery of absolutely unquestionable verdicts.

? In looking for occurrences of irregularities, omissions, malpractices and commissions to determine if statutory infractions were committed during Election 2012, and how such violations if any, did affect the overall declaration of results, the Ghana Supreme Court judges have been disingenuous. They have performed abysmally. They have bared their incompetence, partisanship, corruptibility and mischievousness in public for the whole world to see. I feel ashamed for them and for myself for being their fellow Ghanaian.

? From the evidence provided by the petitioners to the Court and the respondents in the form of pink sheets, coupled with the extra evidence gathered at the cross-examinations of the Chief-witnesses and at the oral clarification of the counsels’ addresses, it was well established that electoral infractions had occurred during the election. Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan continuously lied through his responses, body language and in other cases accepted most of the irregularities.

? Are the nine-member panel of judges telling the whole world that they did not hear or see the irregularities as accepted by Afari Gyan, and as were on the face of the pink sheets respectively? Are they telling Ghanaians they are blind or deaf enough not to see or hear or they are simply being stupid? My insinuations or anger and questions are directed at those of them that voted in majority in favour of the respondents to dismiss the case. They are very incompetent by unprecedented scale, I must assert.

? Are such irregularities not statutory violations? Did they not infringe the electoral rules set out in Constitutional Instrument (CI 75) for the election? Were the results of some polling stations not cancelled because there were incidents of over-voting? Were some intended voters not turned away because the biometric verification machines could not pick the readings of their fingers or designated finger? Was it not established by the petitioners that same infractions did occur in some polling stations but were allowed to pass probably because they favoured John Dramani Mahama? What nonsense are the judges telling me by their verdict of dismissal of the case without bothering to assess the effect of the infractions on the overall election results?

? Is it not too obvious by their decision that they are incompetent, partisan and corrupt and therefore not worth to be called men and women of integrity? Who are they fooling if not themselves? I have not any iota of respect for people who deliberately lie to have their way because of the powers society has bestowed on them. These judges are not exempts.

? How on earth could anyone say on oath on their integrity that the judges have successfully adjudicated the case? What is successful about their shameless portrayal of incompetence, partisanship, corruption that tarnish the reputation of the Blackman in the eyes of our cotemporary Whites? We have to call a spade a spade. We have to tell it to their face that they are not worthy of the positions and titles they hold, "my Lord" - my foot.

? Justices Atuguba and his fellows who voted to dismiss the petition should bow down their heads in shame. From my over three decades experience interacting with the Whites and studying abroad, I can tell when a Ghanaian judge is behaving irresponsibly. If it were in the UK, France, Germany or the US, Atuguba would not have sat on the case in the first place let alone, exhibiting his nonsensical partisanship all the way through the court proceedings. He would personally have recused himself owing the conflict of interest he has – his nephew Dr Atuguba working at the presidency for John Mahama, a respondent in the case. If he would not, the public knowledge of the situation would mount pressure on him to resign. By his infantile actions although an old man and a Supreme Court judge, has he not proved those who raised concerns about him sitting on the case right?

? I am certain Justice Atuguba maintained secret contacts to brief his nephew or President Mahama on the direction of the verdict. No wonder that the most corrupt President Ghana has ever had, was dressed all white on the day of proclamation of the shameful judgment by Atuguba and his bunch of incompetent legal colleagues. Was it for nothing that the President was always saying, "I was ordained by God to be President and that the Supreme Court will reaffirm it?" May the Living God be his true Judge from today forward to establish the veracity of his proclamations. If ever he, or any NDC member or a member of the public paid the judges or lobbied them to judge in his favour, may God Almighty be his Judge.

? May any of the judges who voted for the respondents if they had accepted bribe to influence their decision, or intentionally chosen to favour one party over the other without considering the merits of the evidence in terms of the applicable laws, be cursed to suffer the wrath of God and the gods. May they suffer God’s generational curse for making Him a Liar through their obnoxious behaviour as talked about at length as stated above.

As I shall be serialising my views on the judgment, I shall end here but not without stating that all those jubilant at the verdict must rather bow down their heads in shame. The wise ones abroad are laughing at our ignorance and stupidity as Ghanaians if not as Black people gracing evil instead of good.

? The judges owe me a personal apology. They should come out to apologise to Ghanaians for deliberately insulting our intelligence by their unfortunate verdict.

? ? Rockson Adofo