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Stop running down judiciary, it’s a dangerous precedent – Gary Nimako jabs Mahama
The Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako, has lashed out at former President John Dramani Mahama, cautioning him to desist from running down the judiciary.
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), addressing the closing ceremony of the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday, September 2, claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has deliberately appointed the most judges to the bench in order to have people who will do his bidding when he is out of office and called on NDC members to “balance out” the bench.
Mr. Mahama alleged that, “Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people onto the bench.”
During an interview on Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu, Gary Nimako stated that such comments have the potential to jeopardize the confidence of Ghanaians in the country’s legal system.
He therefore warned the former president to be cautious of his future commentary about the judiciary, describing his comments as “unfortunate.”
The Director of Legal Affairs of the NPP rubbished claims that appointee judges are doing the bidding of President Akufo-Addo.
“It’s very unfortunate, it exposes their lack of understanding of how the court system works, they are making it appear as if the court deals with only political cases. President Akufo-Addo has built over 100 quarters across the country, shouldn’t they be staffed by human beings, judges, and staff? Who is saying that the judges are party people? What is the check to say those there are party people? There’s no appointee serving the interest of the president. It was the same courts that made former president Mahama the president, isn’t it? The same Supreme Court, in 2013, at that time was the court a political court?”
He emphasised, “Let’s be careful not to destroy our institutions of state. The judiciary is a very sensitive institution in the history of our country. I’m not comfortable at all with the way former president Mahama is running the judiciary down. Let’s be very careful as Ghanaians, else, people will lose interest and confidence in the judiciary and say well if that is the case, they will take the law into their hands and will not go to court. Let’s be very careful as a country. If we destroy the judiciary, it’s a very dangerous precedent we are doing for ourselves. It’s a very serious matter we must look at. How do you say that we should balance an equation? Even if what you are saying is true, we should pack the courts with NDC members when you get power. How do you say that?”
He questioned if the NDC will create new courts when they come to power since they doubt the credibility of the current judiciary.
“Do you know that the NDC two-term 2009 MP for Amenfi Central is a high court judge in the Volta Region? If we decide to run the institutions down, it will not help. Will they create their own courts when they come to power?” he asked.
Gary Nimako emphasised that cases not backed by evidence are likely to be thrown out of court.
“Before you go to court, your evidence must be solid. You go to court without evidence, your case is thrown away and you come and say it’s politics. I don’t think the court is politicized now. What I think strongly is that if you are going to the court, go with a solid case. If you go with a solid case, you will hear good news from the judges. But if it’s a bad case, you will lose,” he pointed out.
Source : Citinewsroom.com
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
