SUPREME COURT MUST REGULATE POLITICAL PARTIES

The Supreme Court of Ghana is the highest judicial body in Ghana. Ghana’s 1992 Constitution guarantees the independence and separation of the Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive arms of government.

Before I zoom in on why I think Ghana’s Supreme Court must regulate some activities of political parties, I want to do a bit of justice in explaining the short information I wrote in my first paragraph on what the Supreme Court is. I am not an authority on governance issues and may not be able to say all about the Supreme Court and their mandates, a reason I have not written much on their mandates, thus I will not go deep into that. My brief explanation is therefore based on logic and what the Supreme Court must be doing in order to safeguard Ghana's peace.

The first sentence reads; The Supreme Court of Ghana is the highest judicial body in Ghana. The word ‘highest’ which in other sense means Supreme depicts the level of power that office holds in the country.

The second sentence reads; Ghana’s 1992 Constitution guarantees the independence and separation of the Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive. The words 'independence' and 'separation' in this context means these three arms are not the same. Mind you this is a guarantee provided by the highest law of the land which is our 1992 Constitution.

Let me therefore site an example each of the independence and separation bit that the Constitution guarantees in the statement above. (I believe many of you reading this may have better or perfect examples that best explains this). An instance where the Supreme Court is said to be independent is that The Supreme Court is a body on its own where their activities are not attached or regulated by both the Legislature and the Executive. This brings about the separation between these hierarchies. One main demarcation is that officials of the Judiciary are not voted for or elected into office unlike the Legislature and Executive who is voted for every four years in a general election.

Becoming a Supreme Court judge requires that the fellow has integrity and is of high moral standards. Meanwhile officials of the Legislature and the Executive mostly politicians are not strictly required to have such qualities to contest for elections.

I could go on and on giving instances on the independence and separation of the Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive. So let me pause here and zoom in now on why I am of the view that Ghana’s Supreme Court must regulate activities of our political parties.

Note, the judiciary provides judgment even when officials of both the Legislature and the Executive have an issue. A typical instance is the 2012 General Election petition. At this point, you will agree with me that the Judiciary is powerful than both the Legislature and the Executive.

Politicians fall within the jurisdiction of Legislature and Executive. These are officials who are not appointed to their various positions but instead contest for elections for them to be voted into those ranks. Be it the President, Ministers or Members of Parliament. The competitive nature of this process gives way for officials of these two arms to engage in activities that can jeopardize the peace of this nation.

In the history of many countries where political wars and chaos erupts are mostly due to the activities of members of the Legislature and the Executive. Same applies to Ghana, the peace of this country can be considered to be in jeopardy if the activities of officials who fall under these two hierarchies are not regulated and curbed. Politicians are one section of human species who love power more than any other item, making them do everything within their means to hold on to power or take over power.

As we speak now there is clash between NDC and NPP supporters at Zabzugu over the voter registration exercise. This and many more confusions and minor chaos are happening at different places across the country. Apparently the voter transfer exercise should not involve political parties but that directive is not been adhered to by politicians and their supporters. Orchestrators engaging in this voter transfer malpractice are the various Members of Parliament. (This answers the question of anyone who may argue on my earlier assertion that Legislative and Executive Council members are not actually required to be of integrity and of high moral standards like that of the Judiciary. I am sorry to say this but a lot of malpractices being carried out by politicians do not portray integrity and high moral life standards).

The current chaos in Zabzugu resulted from two political parties ignoring directives of the Electoral Commission. I heard the Public Relations Director of the EC in an interview claiming political parties were invited to witness the transfer for reasons of transparency. But the intention of the EC has been thrown out into the dustbin where political parties especially the two large parties have turned the exercise into transfer malpractice. The main allegation was various political parties are alleged to be bringing people from outside the constituency to transfer their votes to that constituency.

This is actually not the first time political parties have sort of ignored directives of the Electoral Commission. But these political parties often turn around to accuse the Electoral Commission for wrong doings. (This is where I think groups such as LMVCA, Occupy Ghana and co. must condemn the political parties. Not only finding interest in vilifying the Electoral Commission.)

At this point I will draw my first curtains. If political parties especially the two large parties have on several occasions ignored directives given by the Electoral Commission, then we have no guarantee that they will continue to abide by incoming directives. Everyone will bear with me that news of such confusions is not good especially in an election year where tensions are so high. It is in this light that I think the Supreme Court should step in and regulate these political parties. The chaos in Zabzugu and other places may be burning beneath even after calm is restored. And this can trigger to other chaos getting into the Elections or during the elections. If the law is made to work where the Supreme Court backs the Electoral Commission’s directive, I am not sure we will witness such chaos or just a little of it since perpetrators are aware they may face jail terms.  

Tensions getting so high lead me to another reason why the Supreme Court must regulate the activities of the political parties. Comments made by the various political parties are tantamount to possible unrest in the country. Elsewhere in countries where there have been or there is political unrest, some were triggered by just a comment made by one party official or the other. I think the Supreme Court must regulate comments made by political parties where victims of comments that are detrimental to the peace of this country must be taken to the law court.

Imagine the recent vilification of the EC by Let My Vote Count Alliance and other pressure groups. Many of these comments in a way damaged the reputation of the EC and its Chair. Even as it stands now, there are citizens who by hearing such comments have lost trust and may not trust the EC to give us fair judgment come December 7. This perception in the minds of citizens can result in chaos during the elections.

Other comments made by high ranking officials of certain parties such as party supporters after voting should not go home but instead stay over at the polling station to guard votes as if their life depended on it is inappropriate. Contrary to this, the Electoral Commission demands that voters should go home or stay away from the polling station after voting meanwhile few may come over to witness the counting process. Is this not a situation where political parties are ignoring a directive of the EC thereby misinterpreting the EC? The probability of chaos and confusion at these polling stations are very high if all supporters of the various political parties sit there to 'so called' guard their votes.

These and others comments, allegations and claims which we all hear every day and can testify to are dangerous to our peace especially in a tension-filled election year. It takes a moment, an act or a comment for political chaos to spark in any country meanwhile Ghana is not different from those countries. We do not have to sit down unconcerned and allow political parties to plunge this country into chaos. It is obvious they will not openly charge their supporters to cause confusion but their actions and comments can lead to unrest.

In as much as we have trust in our security officials to calm tempers down and guard this country before, during and after the elections, prevention they say is better than cure.

Since the Supreme Court is the highest judicial body of this land and are at the best position to uphold and guard this country, I think officials of the Supreme Court must begin to condemn, criticize and regulate some activities of the various political parties. Ghana is bigger than all political parties; same way the Supreme Court is powerful than all political parties so I humbly urge that they begin exercising that power.

I think the Supreme Court’s involvement in this will go a long way to assure citizens, investors and the entire world of Ghana’s peace going into the December polls.

GHANA FOR PEACE!!!

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