Former Deputy Attorney-General (A-G), 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 in an interview on JoyNews‘ The Pulse on Monday, September 15, in reaction to the Attorney-General’s address at the GBA’s Annual Conference in Wa, Mr. Tuah-Yeboah stressed that as the statutory leader of the Bar, Dr. Ayine’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,” Mr. Tuah-Yeboah said.
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He argued that if the Attorney-General believed the Bar had been silent in the past, he should have acted to correct it rather than rebuking the association in public.
Mr. Tuah-Yeboah recalled instances where the GBA remained silent on constitutional issues under both NDC and NPP administrations, citing the removal of the CHRAJ Commissioner in 2014 under the NDC era and the removal of the Electoral Commission chairperson in 2017.
He, however, maintained that even if there were inconsistencies in the past, they should not be repeated. “The fact that something was done yesterday and you think it wasn’t proper should not mean it should be repeated,” he said.
The former Deputy AG further stated that instead of censuring the Association, 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 questioned Dr. Ayine’s comparison between the Electoral Commission and the Chief Justice, stressing that the two institutions are not the same. “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.