NPP GERMANY
PRESS RELEASE
29—10—2025
John Mahama’s Judicial Hypocrisy: What Was Wrong Under NPP Is Still Wrong Under NDC
When political hypocrisy is dressed in the robes of righteousness, it must be called out for what it is. President John Dramani Mahama’s recent decision to recall retired Justice Samuel Bright Acquah and swear him in as a High Court Judge is a classic case of doing exactly what he once condemned.
The move, as rightly observed by Paul Adom-Otchere on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana, raises serious concerns about Mahama’s sincerity, consistency, and readiness to do things differently after returning to power.
During his days in opposition, Mahama was loud and passionate in accusing the Akufo-Addo-led NPP government of “packing the courts” with judges allegedly loyal to the ruling party.
He repeatedly charged that the NPP was filling the judiciary with its favourites to secure political advantage.
Those words painted him as a reformer-in-waiting — a man ready to restore fairness, independence, and integrity to Ghana’s justice system. But recent events suggest otherwise.
By reappointing Justice Acquah, who had already reached the statutory retirement age of 65, Mahama has shown that his criticisms of the NPP were never about principle — they were purely political.
The same act he branded as wrong under Akufo-Addo is now suddenly acceptable when it serves his own interests.
This is the very definition of hypocrisy, and it betrays the hopes of Ghanaians who believed Mahama’s second coming would be marked by a new moral compass.
Paul Adom-Otchere’s concern was not misplaced.
He pointed out that the reappointment of Justice Acquah sends a “worrying signal” to Ghanaians about the future of judicial independence.
If a judge who made questionable remarks in a politically sensitive case like that of Abronye could be brought back and elevated, then one must ask: what message is Mahama sending to the judiciary and the nation at large?
What makes this situation even more troubling is the clear double standard. When President Akufo-Addo appointed judges — many of them respected professionals with years of service — Mahama and his supporters cried foul, accusing him of bias and manipulation.
Today, when Mahama is doing the same, the same voices have gone silent. Where are the loud critics now? Silence has suddenly become golden.
This selective outrage is what continues to cripple Ghana’s governance culture. Politicians on both sides of the divide denounce certain practices when they are in opposition, only to embrace them once power returns to their hands. The NPP did it, and now the NDC is walking in those same footsteps.
Ghanaians were expecting better from a leader who claimed to represent renewal and fairness.
If Mahama truly believed that Akufo-Addo’s judiciary appointments were excessive and politically motivated, then the moral path was to set a different example.
Instead, he has chosen to repeat the same act, undermining his own credibility and that of his government.
You cannot claim to want a new Ghana while recycling the very old habits that brought public confidence in governance to its knees.
The judiciary, as Adom-Otchere emphasized, is the last pillar that holds both the executive and legislature accountable. When that institution begins to look like an extension of the ruling party’s machinery, democracy suffers.
Every appointment that smacks of favoritism or political reward weakens that independence. Mahama’s latest decision is not only unwise — it’s damaging to the very fabric of our justice system.
It is worth recalling that Justice Acquah’s previous comments during the Abronye case raised eyebrows about his neutrality.
Bringing him back from retirement and elevating him only reinforces the perception that political loyalty, not competence or impartiality, is the new qualification for high judicial office. That perception alone is enough to erode public trust in the courts.
What is even sadder is that Mahama’s actions are not just a reflection of personal inconsistency — they are a betrayal of the expectations of millions of Ghanaians who gave him a second chance. People believed his promise of doing things differently.
They believed his rhetoric of change, accountability, and justice. But so far, he is showing that “different” was just a campaign slogan, not a principle.
It’s time to be brutally honest: Ghana deserves better.
The citizens are tired of leaders who talk like reformers in opposition but act like opportunists in power. Whether it is NPP or NDC, wrong is wrong.
Judicial appointments should never be used as tools for political gratification, regardless of which flag is flying at Jubilee House.
If President Mahama’s intention was to demonstrate leadership that transcends partisanship, this was a missed opportunity.
He could have taken a bold step by promoting fresh legal minds or empowering younger, deserving judges instead of recalling retirees with political baggage. That would have been the real sign of renewal Ghanaians were waiting to see.
As it stands, Mahama’s decision has only confirmed what many skeptics feared: that his government would be a return to the same old ways — favoritism, political patronage, and hypocrisy masked as reform.
No serious transformation can take root in such a political climate.
Paul Adom-Otchere deserves commendation for speaking truth to power at a time when many are silent out of political convenience.
His analysis serves as a reminder that citizens must hold every leader — regardless of party — accountable to the same standards. What was wrong under Akufo-Addo cannot suddenly become right under Mahama.
In the end, the test of leadership is not in how well one criticizes the other side but in how one governs when given the chance.
Sadly, President John Mahama’s recent decision suggests that Ghana’s political class has learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
Until leaders begin to live by the same standards they preach, the dream of a truly fair and accountable democracy will remain just that — a dream.
Ghana’s democracy deserves better.
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana!!!
Long Live Ghana, long live the Elephant Party!!!!
Kukruduuuu Eeeessshiii!!!
Signed:
Nana Osei Boateng
NPP GERMANY
Communications Director
