You’re a hypocrite – Freddie Blay fires John Mahama over comments on judicial influence

A former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has stated that former President John Dramani Mahama lacks the moral right to accuse President Akufo-Addo of appointing judges aligned with the NPP to give decisions in the favour of the government.

He said experience from past appointments onto the bench portray the former President as guilty of the very accusation he made against President Akufo-Addo and his government .

Mahama’s comments
At the 3rd annual lawyers conference of the NDC on Saturday, September 2, 2023, in Akosombo, Mr Mahama stated that President Akufo-Addo has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench. “It is more than 80 towards 100 and counting. You can see what the current president has done. He has packed the court, and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office. “So, I encourage some of you to look at careers on the bench so that we can balance out what the current situation is. We must be prepared as NDC legal persons to also go onto the bench so that we can balance out the judiciary,” he stated .

NDC penetrated judiciary
But , reacting to the former President’s allegations, Mr Blay said there have been periods where the NDC whilst in government, penetrated the judiciary.
Therefore, he said, the former President has no moral rights to make such statements.
He stated: “I was in parliament when somebody who was a member of parliament for the NDC after he was butchered out of parliament, applied and he joined the judiciary, he is still a member of the NDC.”

Dormaahene
Emphasizing that appointments of known political party supporters were not peculiar to the NPP, Mr Blay said , “ There is a Dormaa High Court judge, solidly, he speaks for the NDC. His opinions are obvious and he speaks for the NDC. All his utterances indicate that he supports the NDC.
“That is not all, I knew a man who is now on retirement. He was also an MP during my time, he was also recruited onto the bench, and he was an NDC. I don’t want to mention names here.”

Moral standings
Mr Blay said there are many Ghanaians with incontestable moral standing who have sought for positions within the judiciary.
“I am saying that there are quite a number of individuals, Ghanaians who have indicated that they want to enter the bar. They are not criminals, they are people of integrity based on which they have been promoted to the bench,” he stated.