Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood says the judiciary is well positioned to protect the electoral rights of the citizenry.
According to her, the judiciary has the men and the women committed to safeguarding and protecting the electoral rights of Ghanaians.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has already been faced with a series of court actions in the run-up to the December 7 elections.
But the Chief Justice, in an address at the opening of the ninth edition of the Chief Justice’s Forum, was emphatic that the disputes might remain an inevitable feature of the process, regardless of efforts at perfecting the electoral process.
She stated that elections in the country had not been without vigorous disagreements that had often led to the loss of limbs or in extreme cases, loss of lives and destruction of property.
“But election violence is not justified; it does not by any stretch of the imagination qualify as a viable option,” the CJ stated.
Justice Wood, who enumerated measures the judiciary has put in place in the event of any election-related case, said Ghanaians expect and truly deserve a smooth, timely and successful resolution to electoral disputes.
She added that faith in the judiciary to deliver substantial justice in a timely fashion is essential to assure all stakeholders that their first recourse should never be a wrong, criminal and heartlessly inhumane approach to the resolution of electoral differences and disputes.
Justice Suley Gbadegbe, chairperson for the forum, noted that although the power conferred on the judiciary by the constitution is exclusive, the judiciary has over the years as part of its efforts to be transparent and accountable in the discharge of its responsibilities been holding the forum.
He said notwithstanding the doubts that linger in the minds of the few, the judiciary had re-established itself as a relevant constitutional body determined to exercise its core mandate with integrity.
Justice Gbadegbe said the theme of the event has a wider context and concerns the upcoming elections during which the president and Members of Parliament (MPs) will be elected.
He said there was no doubt that the theme had been carefully selected to reflect the judiciary’s perception of what the good people of Ghana consider to be the most important event on the national calendar.
“Today all over the word, freely conducted elections are the only way to bring about a change in government; therefore it is of extreme importance to all that the rules by which the elections are to be conducted are compiled with at every stage of the electoral process,” he disclosed.
Justice Gbadegbe said without the right for citizens to question the results of public elections, the principle of universal adult suffrage and the equality of votes is bereft of any substance.
He said as the nation prepares for another election, it was important for the judiciary to address the question of how it proposes to discharge its mandate in the name of the good people of Ghana before, during and after the electoral exercise.
Emmanuel Akewety, Executive Director, Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), in a keynote address, stated that Ghana’s elections had been characterized by what he described as turbulence.
The IDEG boss said there is also the innate mistrust of the electoral body and the officials who man the institution.
He, however, said the management of election in the country is no longer the sole mandate of EC but all citizens.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com