Former Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has described as self-criticism the recent comments by Attorney-General Dr. Dominic Ayine, who accused the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) of being partisan and “self-serving.”
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Monday, September 15, in reaction to Dr. Ayine’s address at the GBA’s Annual Conference in Wa, Mr. Tuah-Yeboah argued that the Attorney-General’s remarks amounted to attacking his own leadership.
“I must first and foremost point out that the Attorney-General is the leader of the Bar, as he always puts it. And so, if the first gentleman leading the Bar now says the Association lost its voice, then he is essentially criticising himself,” he said.
He maintained that if Dr. Ayine believed the Bar had been silent in the past, he should have acted to correct the situation rather than publicly rebuking the association.
Mr. Tuah-Yeboah recalled instances where the GBA remained silent on constitutional matters under both NDC and NPP administrations, citing the removal of the CHRAJ Commissioner in 2014 and the removal of the Electoral Commission Chairperson in 2017.
Even so, he cautioned against repeating past mistakes: “The fact that something was done yesterday and you think it wasn’t proper should not mean it should be repeated.”
The former Deputy A-G further argued that Dr. Ayine should have commended the GBA for standing up for the judiciary, noting that under Commonwealth practice, Bar Associations serve as defenders of the judiciary, which cannot publicly respond when under attack.
He also dismissed Dr. Ayine’s comparison between the Electoral Commission and the Chief Justice, stressing that the two institutions are fundamentally different.
“The Chief Justice is the head of an arm of government. The Electoral Commission, though independent, technically operates under the executive. So, the two cannot be equated,” he said.
Source: Emma Ankrah
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