GBA vows to act on unsavoury post verdict media commentaries

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Created on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:00

GBA vows to act on unsavoury post verdict media commentaries

17 September 2013

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) says it will soon begin investigations into media commentaries on the Presidential Election Petition which was dismissed by Supreme Court in August.

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President of the GBA, Nene Amegatcher, revealed on Monday September 16 that the General Legal Council has mandated the Executive Committee of the Association to probe all allegations and unsavoury comments made by lawyers after the August 29 ruling.

Speaking at the Bar Associaion's annual conference at the Ho Polytechnic in the Volta Region, Nene Amegatcher said the Association is "saddened by the turn of events especially attacks coming from very senior lawyers who ought to know better".

Following the Supreme Court ruling, some lawyers including Tsatsu Tsikata and Gabby Asare Octchere-Darko made comments widely described as demeaning and an affront to the integrity of the judiciary.

For instance Mr Tsikata claimed that one of the nine Justice who heard the petition was politically biased, while Mr Otchere-Darko described the judgement as farcical and corrupt.

But Nene Amegatcher said some of the comments and allegations are so serious that "if allowed to go without proper investigations...the floodgates will be opened for lawyers and litigants who have either won or lost a case in court to lash at Judges in the Court of public opinion."

Mr. Amegatcher also waded into the numerous calls for electoral reforms. He said it was time for Ghana to undertake electoral reforms that will eliminate the "over-reliance on pink sheets."

"There is no doubt that we are at a critical phase of our nation building, [and] after two decades of democratic dispensation weaknesses have emerged that require urgent attention", he said.

Source: myjoyonline.com