Justice Kwaku Gyan, a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, has slammed the Supreme Court for preventing Election Commission Chairperson Jean Mensa from testifying during the 2020 presidential election petition.
The Supreme Court unanimously decided that the Chairperson and Peter Mac Manu could not be forced to testify in the Election Petition case, thwarting the petitioners’ attempt to have the EC chair subpoenaed into the witness box. The petitioners were former President John Dramani Mahama and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The NDC and John Mahama had maintained that the ruling New Patriotic Party was not victorious in the 2020 election. Additionally, they wanted accountability since they were unhappy with the various election outcomes that the electoral administration body had announced. However, their efforts were in vain.
Justice Kwaku Gyan made this statement during a public lecture under the theme “Protecting Our Democracy: The Role of the Judiciary” on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at the University of Ghana.
He argued that the vital function that the judiciary plays in effective governance, which he claimed is essential to every democracy.
Justice Kwaku Gyan called the decision made by the Apex Court “shameful,” emphasizing that it hindered the EC from answering to the public.
“Article 125 (1) emphasizes that ‘justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the Republic by the judiciary which shall be independent and subject only to the constitution.’ The import of these stipulations is to underscore the fact that the judiciary and hence judges of our courts are accountable to the people as their servants and not as their masters in the quest to achieve and advance the vision of democratic government and the objective and tangible fruit of democracy in our land.”
“Additionally, and more importantly, the judiciary has the bonding duty to hold all other powers, entities, and agencies of the state accountable and ensure transparency in their actions or deeds, and in this respect, I felt very agonized when the Supreme Court in the 2020 election petition decided to shield the Electoral Commissioner from giving evidence. The Supreme Court in that trial was a constitutional court not just any court…adversarial court and the Electoral Commission was the Returning Officer.”
