President Akufo-Addo administering the oaths of secrecy, allegiance and judicial oaths
Enraged by happenings in the last couple of weeks, President Akufo-Addo has served notice that neither he nor his government would provide a safe haven for people – including his own party members – who break the law.
“I use this occasion to assure the country that my government will not shield anyone found to have broken the laws of this country,” he stated during the swearing-in of the newly appointed Chief Justice (CJ), Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo, yesterday.
For him, “Application of the laws of the land must occur, in the words of the judicial oath, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and therefore, without recourse to the political, religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land.”
President Akufo-Addo stated, “When you fall foul of the law, you must be dealt with accordingly, and the law enforcement agencies, including the judiciary, must ensure this is done.”
“To persons perpetrating acts of lawlessness in the name of being members of the ruling party, let me make it clear to you that you will find no shield in my government…….”
That was in reference to recent disturbances at Savelugu, where a handful of executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and some youth are trying to prevent the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), who has duly been given the requisite approval by members of the municipal assembly from working.
For the president, this is unacceptable and has since urged the police to “do everything in their power to bring to book all those who fall foul of the law.”
According to Nana Addo, “We cannot have development, which will bring jobs to our youth, without order.”
With the Office of the Special Prosecutor in the offing to ensure the prosecution of corrupt public officials (past and present), it was his expectation that the judiciary would help facilitate the work of the proposed prosecutor.
“We are determined to build a new Ghanaian civilisation, where the rule of law is not a slogan, but an operating principle for the development of our state, where the separation of powers is real and meaningful, where public officials behave with honesty and integrity, where the liberties and rights of our people are fully protected and where law and order provide a firm basis for our social and economic development, so that the dreams of freedom and prosperity that animated the great patriots, who founded our nation, can find expression in our generation,” he emphasised.
He therefore charged, “All of us, from the public sector, the security agencies, the private sector, the political parties, civil society, the religious bodies and the traditional authorities, have a joint responsibility to work together, with our different views and our different perspectives, for the Ghana project – a united Ghana, governed according to the rule of law, respect for individual liberties, human rights and the principles of democratic accountability, a Ghana that meets fundamental requirements of social justice and solidarity and a Ghana where we look past commodities to position our country in the global marketplace.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent