Former President John Mahama is unperturbed about criticisms by Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame over his comments against the judiciary.
Mr. Mahama said he would not allow anyone to restrain him from speaking on matters of national discourse.
According to him, as a former president, he is duty bound to comment on such matters to give them the needed attention.
The 2020 NDC flagbearer said he was unfazed by attacks from people who are unhappy with his criticisms.
“The judiciary is the last arbiter. We can disagree, and we can have quarrels in parliament. Eventually, when we are unable to agree, we all go to the justice system, and we must have confidence that it will do fairly and will do so according to the law and in the public interest; that’s all I was saying,” he explained in an interview with TV3 which was monitored by The Ghana Report on Monday, 12 September 2022
“So, how can he (Mr Dame) interpret that to mean that I was impudent and bla bla bla. So if you are a former president and you see something going on in the country, you have no right to talk about it? Is that what he is saying? Mr Mahama queried.
“No, I won’t let him take that right away from me. If I see something going wrong, I will point it out. It is my duty to do so,” he assured.
Earlier, Mr. Mahama had said it would take a new Chief Justice to lead the process to repair what he said was the “badly dented image” of Ghana’s judiciary for people to win the trust in the system.
For him, the deteriorated image of the judiciary easily sparks laughter from the citizenry when one decides to go to the court for justice.
Mr. Mahama made the statement at the opening of the 2nd Annual Lawyers Conference of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Sunday, 28 August 2022.
But speaking at the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Annual Conference in Ho in the Volta Region, the AG said the attack by the former president dents the image of the judiciary in the sight of unsuspecting Ghanaians.
He noted that the situation might threaten the peace and well-being of the country.
“It was a great dismay and embarrassment that I heard a person who has occupied the highest office of state, that is, the former president, recently launch an unwarranted attack on the integrity of Ghana’s Judiciary. I observe that this was the latest instalment of systematic attacks by the former president, albeit unjustified”.
The Attorney General said all well-meaning Ghanaians should call the former president to order.
“I am compelled to comment on same in this address because they border on the security of the state and constitute a deliberate pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the independence of the Judiciary, an arm of government whose autonomy is crucial to its proper functioning”.
“Such conduct is clearly deplorable, coming from one who has occupied the highest office of president and aspires again to that office. At this moment, it is important for all to note that I express this sentiment not because I stand in opposition to former President Mahama as a politician,” he added.