The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has advised individuals engaged in corrupt acts in the judicial service to be wise, because the ‘end time’ is near for them.
Addressing the annual Ghana Bar Association (GBA) conference in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, the Asantehene said Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ exposé must be a wake-up call to officials engaged in corruption.
He cited a passage in the Bible to admonish the judiciary and Ghanaians saying “…the prophet was asked, what will be the sign of the coming of the end. He responded: as it was in the days of Noah and the ark, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and they knew not until the floods came and took them all away, so shall be the sign of the coming of the end.”
He was speaking to the recent corruption scandal that has shaken the judiciary, which some judges have subsequently been suspended.
He said “corruption is not a judicial disease, it is and has always been a national disease so there must be in several areas of public life where several hearts are pounding and pondering, where next.”
“I commend this passage to all in the depths of compromise within the arms of government and to all those whose hands are aflutter from fear of the next episode and I do so with a message, Repent! Repent! Lest the floods come to sweep you.”
Anas Aremeyaw Anas captured 34 judges and some court officials on camera taking bribes in some instances, to influence judgments.
The Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood also speaking at the GBA conference lamented the declining credibility of the judicial service saying, “Justice has been wounded in the past week.”
She cited the damning evidence presented by journalist Anas Arimeyaw Anas saying it “cast a heavy dark shadow on the legal community as a whole, its services, its people and its credibility” adding that it also has also deepened the long-held suspicions on the legal profession in general.”
