Yaw Nsarkoh calls for independent prosecutor, questions use of contempt powers by courts

Former Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana and Nigeria, Yaw Nsarkoh, has questioned how the judiciary uses its contempt powers, saying they should not be used to discourage fair criticism of court decisions.

Speaking at a JoyNews and An Amalgam of Professionals event in Accra on Tuesday, October 20, Mr Nsarkoh said judges hold power like anyone else, and that power must be open to scrutiny and accountability.

“If judges sit in court, and this happened, I’m not making it up, it’s not AI, if judges sit in court and write into judgment that we have freedom of speech, but not freedom after speech, why on God’s earth should we be unsure whether such wanton abuse of power can be described as professionally irresponsible?” he asked.

“Power corrupts; judicial power is power too,” he added.

Mr Nsarkoh also called for an independent prosecutor with Cabinet rank or an equivalent standing, to strengthen accountability when senior political figures are accused of wrongdoing.

He questioned how independent the Attorney-General can be, since the office-holder is appointed by the President, sits in Cabinet and serves at the President’s pleasure. In his view, Ghana needs a “really muscular” prosecutor who can go after even the most powerful people in government.

He also turned to the tone of public life. Mr Nsarkoh criticised what he described as performative aggression among lawyers and in Parliament.

“Why is it impossible to turn down the aggression routinely shown towards each other? With so many lawyers ending up in Parliament, that orientation is carried into those chambers. Why must that be the case? Is it impossible to make laws without all this shouting and feigned acrimony we sometimes see?” he asked.

He said Ghana could learn from other countries.

“There are judicial and parliamentary cultures in the world that have moved past this performative boisterousness that we are normalizing in some aspects of our political culture. What we need is the will to learn from those and even our own history of governance, especially in traditional communities,” he said.