Seven High Court Judges Were Suspended in Ghana

Seven high court judges were suspended in Ghana after Anas Aremeyaw, an investigative journalist, made a film in which he recorded them while taking bribery. This corruption scandal is one of the biggest taking place over the last decades in Africa.

The judges were suspended after the local journalist made the video public. The film demonstrates the practice of taking bribery and asking for sexual favors in exchange of successful cases.

In this corruption scandal, another 22 judges have been suspended and wait for investigations.

Mr. Anas’ discovery is not the first of its kind. In the past he had revealed human trafficking and corruption among police. The man spent almost 2 years to make the film, which is the result of 500 hours of unprocessed footage.

In the movie, Anas declares that several judges, along with some other workers demanded bribes of even sexual favors from litigants. In exchange of controlling the justice system, they would ask for favors through intermediaries. In most of the cases, Anas played the role of a relative or a friend of the litigant.

Georgiana Wood, Ghana’s Chief Justice suspended the judges after an investigation. Moreover, she was advised to do so by the country’s judicial council.

“Their suspension follows the establishment of a prima facie case of stated misbehavior against them by the Hon Lady Chief Justice (Wood),” highlighted a statement belonging to the judicial council.

Anas’ discoveries profoundly affected Ghana’s reputation, which boasts itself on a fair judicial system. In a rank made by the Transparency International, Ghana occupies the 61^th position out of 175.

The film is entitled “Ghana in the Eyes of God; Epic of Injustice” and it is 3-hour length. The film was shown in cinemas in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, and in Kumasi.

The court forbade other screenings of the movie, as one of the judges declared it would prejudice his cases.

Among people from Ghana, Anas is seen as a hero and he is very popular for his techniques of disguising in everything he wants.

Image Source: Torange