LET’S HEAR JUDICIAL SERVICE ON KISSI AGYEBENG’S JOINT STATEMENT BEFORE RUSHING TO JUDGMENT
LET’S HEAR THE JUDICIAL SERVICE ON KISSI AGYEBENG’S JOINT STATEMENT BEFORE RUSHING TO JUDGMENT.
BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU
The Special Prosecutor published and circulated widely an alleged joint statement made by the Judicial Service and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) dated 27 December 2023. The alleged joint statement on a stationery bearing the National Coat of Arms and the Logo of the OSP is unusual in the issuance of joint statements by public institutions unless it is the work of a momentary and ingenious IT creation to achieve a particular media and psychological operational effect. An examination of the stationery used clearly indicates that it was issued by the OSP in the name of the Judicial Service.
The alleged joint statement was published by myjoyonline.com after it had published my article on its website as https://www.myjoyonline.com/martin-amidu-osp-blackmails-government-by-touting-prosecutions-of-government-appointees-achievements/. Myjoyonline.com removed my article entirely from its website when it published the alleged joint statement. The result was that my article cannot be accessed on myjoyonline.com. I accordingly emailed a request to myjoyonline.com for an explanation for which I am still waiting. The psychological operational effect on the unsuspecting public after my deleted article by myjoyonline.com and the publication of the OSP’s alleged joint statement was, at least, achieved by myjoyonline.com for the OSP.
I have read the worries and concerns expressed and raised by Justice Abdulai, a law lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Wednesday, 27 December 2023 about the danger posed by an unholy alliance between the Judicial Service and the OSP to undermine the due process of law as guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution.
My considered view underpinned by decades of public service experience is that it is unfair for the Judicial Service to rush to those conclusions without waiting for clarification of the alleged joint statement from the Chief Justice and the Judicial Service, particularly when the Chief Justice’s picture accompanied the publication of the alleged joint statement. My experience with courthouse governance for decades is that the use of the Chief Justice’s picture in this enterprise was without her consent by those who caused the publication for psychological operational effect to enhance their falling integrity and reputations.
I have represented the Attorney-General on the Judicial Council for decades during the PNDC and NDC1, 2, & 3 periods and I know how careful the Judicial Service is in preserving its independence and impartiality. I have visited the website of the Judicial Service and the alleged Joint Statement is not on that website. The Judicial Service is on its Michaelmas vacation which makes the 27 December 2023 publication by the OSP in the name of the Judicial Service suspicious to patriotic citizens.
It is premature to make any assumptions against the Judicial Service in the publication of the Joint Statement by the OSP allegedly on behalf of the Judicial Service without knowing the context under which the statement was issued by the beleaguered OSP which has perennially scandalized the administration of justice under the 1992 Constitution.
It is important to seek confirmation from the Judicial Service on the circumstances of its involvement, if any, in the issuance of the alleged joint statement by the Judicial Service and the OSP before bringing the Judicial Service into any adverse commentaries about the alleged joint statement issued in its name.
The original joint statement must definitely have been signed by officers from the two public institutions which the public is entitled to be provided with. The only institution we have under the 1992 Constitution which holds the scales between the executive and the rights of citizens is the judiciary. We must, therefore, hasten slowly to jump to conclusions against it without concrete evidence of any wrongdoing from the Judicial Service. I smell a psychological operation from the rogue OSP in the issuance of the joint statement to coincide with the publication of my article on 27 December 2023 about breaches of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017, (Act 959) pervasively taking place in the OSP.
Let the Judicial Service be heard on this alleged joint statement before rushing to unfounded judgment against it. Truth shall stand!
Martin A. B. K. Amidu
29 December 2023