he Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu has responded to the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) saying he does not fear losing his profession for speaking out of conviction.
The AMJG has officially reported the Madina lawmaker over his political judge comment to the General Legal Council.
Mr. Sosu during the ‘Yentua’ demo warned that ‘political judges’ will be dealt with politically if political power changes hands.
The Ghana Bar Association were the first to condemn the comment from the lawmaker.
However, in a complaint to the General Legal Council, the Association of Judges and Magistrates said “The questions the association will like to ask Sosu are, who is a political judge, who determines who is a political judge and by what criteria is the determination made? Who are the so-called political judges who are going to be dealt with.
“The association considers this statement of Honorable Sosu as deliberate and calculated to create disaffection for the judiciary, an attempt to scandalize the judiciary and judges, we condemn the said the statements in no terms.”
“The association takes a serious view of the statement and considers it very unprofessional from a lawyer and an unprovoked attack on the judiciary.
“Having regards to the seriousness with which the AMJG takes this statement and its potential to do undue damage to the image of the judiciary, the association is lodging a formal complaint against Sosu to the general legal council immediately for his unprofessional utterances,” Justice Henry Kwofie, President of the AMJG said.
In responding to the AMJG, Mr. Sosu says his comments during the demonstration were not an attempt to scandalize the judicial arm of government.
He further expressed worry that his interview with the media has been misinterpreted wrongly.
“I am highly disappointed with the content of the Statement because the Association clearly misconstrued the content and the context of my statement. For the avoidance of doubt, my statement was indeed DELIBERATE AND WELL THOUGHT OUT except that contrary to their assertion, it was NEVER AN ATTEMPT TO SCANDALIZE THE JUDICIARY.
“Let me unequivocally say that I respectfully respond to the release at the peril of my own career as a lawyer and have come to realize at this point in my life that I must stand up to my convictions,” he stated.
According to him, “the statement was in no way an attempt to either scandalize and attack the Judiciary. Rather, it was a CONDITIONAL STATEMENT cautioning judges who may “allow themselves to be influenced politically to be partisan”.
The Madina MP continued “The release will not stop me from my continuous critique of the Judiciary when need be. After all, one of the tools by which citizens can demand accountability of the Judiciary is through public criticism. As a Member of Parliament and speaking in that capacity, I have every right to demand that our judiciary be devoid of political influence.”
Source: Starrfm