The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) says its reservations about happenings in the Ghanaian judiciary spans the Kufuor administration (2001-2008) but it has restrained from voicing them out to avoid being misconstrued. A statement issued Wednesday evening and signed by Richard Quashigah, NDC National Propaganda Secretary, said as far back as that period, “…the Kufuor term decided and embarked on a policy of manipulation of the Judiciary to service its political agenda especially in the case of Tsatsu Tsikata, Kwame Preprah and others when justice was clearly subverted to service the whim and caprices of the NPP.” The statement, issued in support of the party’s national chairman Dr. Kwabena Adjei’s comments Tuesday which raised concerns of bias in the judiciary and suspicions of collusion between members of the judiciary and certain lawyer-members of the opposition New Patriotic Party, said already political friends of the NDC “…on the other side are deliberately taking out of context what the NDC’s National Chairman said at yesterday’s news conference.” The NDC says recent events have vindicated its concerns over the packing of the Supreme and High Courts with new judges by the Kufuor administration. The statement said; “The Party believes that at this stage, the sovereign people of Ghana have a right to use all avenues open to them under the Constitution to ensure an impartial judiciary. “When the Chairman of the NDC says that we will clean the Judiciary it is in reference to the opportunities provided to the sovereign people of Ghana under the Constitution to ensure that the Judiciary is fair, balanced and dispenses equitable justice. “Beyond the legal and constitutional opportunities available to the sovereign people of Ghana, the NDC believes it has the right to take its case to the people to sensitize the country on developments in the Judiciary which the Party considers inimical to our common quest for free, balanced and impartial Judiciary. This in essence is what the National Chairman of the NDC stated in the News conference when he said we will clean the Judiciary. “In other words the cleansing will take place within the public domain when all will be encouraged to express their views on the conduct of the judiciary not only in respect of the so called political trials but also the conduct of the judiciary in adjudicating in several other cases where numerous Ghanaians have had cause to question the fairness and impartiality of the Judiciary.” The NDC reiterated that the judiciary should be capable of dispensing justice without any overt or covert political underpinnings, saying it must also be firmly registered that Ghana’s “constitution provides ample opportunity to the people of Ghana to obtain necessary remedies where the people feel justice is not being served.” Story by Myjoyonline.com/Ghana