WUAKU vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND ANOTHER

JUDGMENT OF AMUA-SEKYI JSC. (delivered the judgment of the court). After the overthrow of the Nkrumah regime, the judiciary came in for much criticism for the role it had played while the previous government was in power. It was said that it had departed from its traditional role as an independent arm of government and had become a willing tool of repression in the hands of the executive. It was also said that some of the appointments to the bench had been politically motivated in that persons with known sympathies for the regime had been favoured over those who exhibited an independent frame of mind. Worse still, it was said that some of the judges had become so depraved and demoralized that they habitually took bribes. The answer of the new administration was the wholesale dismissal of judges—cleaning the Augean stables, as it were—and appointing new ones to take their place. But it was soon realized that merely changing personnel would not be enough: what was required was a r...