There’s no problem with Sosu’s ‘political judge’ statement – Kofi Bentil

Legal Practitioner and Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has stated that remarks by Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu, is in no way injurious to the reputation of the judiciary.

Speaking on JoyNews’ current affairs show, Newsfile, last Saturday, Mr. Bentil in sharing his views on the subject retorted “But what did Sosu say? He said if you make yourself a political judge, then you’ll be judged as such. There is no problem with that. And the irony is that I spoke to one judge who said they don’t see where the problem is, and they the judges have a problem with their colleagues who are political judges, because they taint all of them.”

Mr. Bentil called for Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu’s words to be examined carefully and not mistaken as an attack on the judiciary.

He noted “we are dealing with a situation where the perception of Sosu as a politician and as an activist politician, is being taken beyond the point and not the fact of what he said. I think Sosu should have been more circumspect and maybe, avoided this kind of controversy leading to all these kinds of discussions.”

According to Mr. Bentil, “we should be normalizing the fact that judges have political leanings. I don’t know why we keep making that such a difficult issue. And we should be normalizing the thought that regardless of a judge’s political leaning, his or her judgements are based on the law, facts, evidence.”

The remarks by Mr. Bentil come in the wake of comments by Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu, MP for Madina Constituency, who doubles as Deputy Ranking Member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee admonishing judges to be apolitical and not engage in the bidding of political parties or agendas.

Mr. Sosu, during the ‘Yen Tua’ demonstration against the E-levy on Thursday, February 10, 2022, said judges who had become political in the line of work will be treated as politicians.

“What it means is that when you become partisan as a judge remember that your tenure of office as a judge will run with the political party that you favour. Let that be clear because political power is very transient, positions are not possessions, so people will come, people will go,” he said

However, GBA has since condemned the conduct of the MP, describing it as not only “unprofessional and unfortunate”, but also “irresponsible and distasteful.”

In a response, Francis-Xavier Sosu expressed distaste about how his assertion has been received by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

Mr. Sosu described the GBA’s reservation as among other things, misplaced in its scheme of objectives adding that the association has become “rather a monumental failure to our democracy.”

“It is a wonder to know that the Ghana Bar Association still exists in this country following your loud silence on critical matters of national concern which relate to the Bar, Legal Education, Mistreatment of Lawyers, lack of welfare for Lawyers, Human Rights abuses, Press freedom and justice delivery among others in Ghana.

“The statement was a conditional statement and no amount of twists and turns will extricate judicial officers and judges who will allow themselves to become agents of political agenda,” he said in a statement.

According to him, the GBA is creating a false impression about his statement by their press release suggesting that “judges would lose their jobs when the party that appointed them loses power.”

“My statement was clear ‘If you are a political judge, you will be dealt with politically… Judges owe a duty to the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the laws of Ghana. If a judge allows him or herself to become an agent of a Political party, the tenure of the said judge will run with the political parties they favour’.

He also blamed the GBA of political bias at the help which he insists is affecting its core duties.

“Unfortunately, the leadership’s Release shows the extent to which they are politically affiliated and bias as Leaders of the Bar Association. Who in Ghana does not know that the GBA Leadership are so politically biased?. What are the core duties of the GBA?”

The human rights lawyer opined that the reaction forms part of machinations to cite him for professional misconduct.

“Again, I have noted the lame attempt by the GBA Leadership to prepare a ground to construe my statements as a Professional Misconduct Contrary to Rule 52 of L. 12423. My statement as a whole did not violate Rule 52 and can never be said to be irresponsible and unethical. Since when did speaking TRUTH to power become unethical and irresponsibility?” he further quizzed.

The MP urged legal professionals to support his call “to stop our judges from becoming political judges in order to guarantee our democracy.”

“The leadership of the GBA is needlessly attacking the voice of conscience that speaks truth though it hurts badly.”

He also challenged the Association to channel its energies towards regaining its ‘lost focus and relevance’.

“In conclusion, I would continue to uphold and defend the 1992 Constitution without fear or favour. My duty as a lawyer to hold the Profession in high esteem does not include keeping quite on critical matters that bothers on bad governance practices, human rights abuses, and politicisation of independent institutions of state. I owe it to the good people of Ghana and the good people of Madina who gave me a chance to serve them as their Member of Parliament.

My statement was very clear and let me say in the words of Bob Marley that “who the cap fit, let him wear it” he concluded.