<<Print>>

Seasoned Journalist, Kwesi Pratt  Jnr., has blasted critics describing former President John Mahama's claims that the Judiciary is a mockery to the public as bastardizing the image of the Judiciary.

Mr. Mahama, addressing a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Lawyers’ Conference, called for a new Chief Justice to lead the Judiciary to repair its image.

“So badly has the image of our Judiciary deteriorated that many of our citizenry openly make mockery of our justice system and of our justices. The phrase ‘Go to Court’ is these days met with derisive laughter, instead of hope that one will truly get justice”.

“There is, therefore, the urgent need for the Ghanaian Judiciary to work to win the trust and confidence of the citizenry, and erase the widely held perception of hostility and political bias in legal proceedings at the highest courts of the land”.

“Unfortunately, we have no hope that the current leadership of our Judiciary can lead such a process of change. We can only hope, that a new Chief Justice will lead the process to repair the broken image that our Judiciary has acquired over the last few years,” he added.

Mr. Mahama's comments have been labeled as an attack on the Judiciary but Kwesi Pratt thinks otherwise.

Contributing to "Kokrokoo" panel discussion programme on Peace FM, Mr. Pratt argued that Mr. Mahama's remarks are acceptable as he like every human has the right to criticize the Judiciary when the person has his or her disagreements.

To him, there is nothing wrong with being biased, hence believed the former President's claims are "not an attack. It is allowed. It is part of the law".

"There is nothing existing that bias is not discernable. As humans as we are, sometimes bias is instigated through ethnicity. Sometimes through religious affiliations, a lot of things are basis of bias. So bias is a normal thing," he added.