Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis Xavier-Sosu has expressed surprise over the existence of the Ghana Bar Association due to its “loud silence” on pertinent issues within the country.
Issuing a rebuttal against the statement by the GBA calling him unprofessional over remarks he made about the Association, Mr Sosu revealed that he rejects the allegation of being unprofessional and irresponsible and would reiterate that the GBA is rather a “monumental failure” to the country’s democracy. He noted that he takes strong exceptions to the Statement of the leadership of the GBA.
“I make reference to your Press Release dated the 14th Day of February 2022 on the above subject. It is a wonder to know that the Ghana Bar Association still exists in this country following your loud silence on critical matters of national concern which relate to the Bar, Legal Education, Mistreatment of Lawyers, lack of welfare for Lawyers, Human Rights abuses, Press freedom and justice delivery among others in Ghana”.
Francis Xavier-Sosu
A cursory look at the Objects of the GBA Constitution in Part 1, Section 2, Mr Sosu explained, clearly shows that the GBA has lost its focus and relevance long ago. He indicated that the GBA Leadership has a duty to ensure “the maintenance of the Independence of the Judiciary”.
The Madina legislator quipped how the GBA can achieve its object if judges allow themselves to be influenced politically. He expressed that for the rest of the objects, “I beg to leave it here else we wash our dirty linen in public”.
“Needless to say, let me be clear that I stand by my statement any day, any time. The Statement was a conditional statement and no amounts of twists and turns will extricate judicial officers and judges who would allow themselves to become agents of political partisan agenda”.
Francis Xavier-Sosu
Sosu suggests GBA is Politcally influenced
Mr Sosu intimated that the leadership of the GBA have sought to create a false impression by “their misguided release asserting that judges would lose their jobs when the party that appointed them loses power”. This, he noted, rather reflects the leadership’s misunderstanding of the statement he made.
According to Lawyer Sosu, his statement was clear, as such “If you are a political judge, you will be dealt with politically… Judges owe a duty to the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the laws of Ghana. If a judge allows him or herself to become an agent of a Political party, the tenure of the said judge will run with the political parties they favour”. This Statement, he revealed, must be the reality of every Ghanaian who believes in rule of Law and fidelity to the Coats of Arm, the 1992 Constitution and the Judicial Oath taken by judges.
The GBA in its statement dated February 14, 2022, revealed that the remarks by the NDC legislator is irresponsible as it has the potential of courting disaffection for the judges and exposing them to danger.
It observed that such ignorant and deliberate misinformation is gradually but steadily casting a slur on the appreciable gains that have been made in our democratic experiment as a nation. It is in the light of this that the GBA views as unprofessional, irresponsible and totally out of place for a Lawyer to make utterances in the nature of those made by Francis Xavier Sosu.
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