The first Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Western Region, Kwesi Biney, has warned that Ghanaians would hold government responsible if anything bad happens to any of the country's judges or their relatives. According to him, the statement by the National Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei, during the party's re­ cent press conference in Accra that the NDC would purge the judiciary and that there were several ways of killing a cat could mean that not only the judges of this country are unsafe but their relatives also. He noted that if there are several ways of killing a cat, then it could mean that the relatives of the judges could either be kidnapped or harassed unduly, which might adversely affect the members of the judiciary in the execution of their constitutionally mandated duties. He has therefore called on the government and the security agencies to provide adequate security for the members of the judiciary and their relatives, adding that the government would be responsible for any catastrophe that would befall the judges and their relatives. Speaking to DAILY GUIDE in an interview, Mr. Biney noted that despite the condemnation of the NDC chairman's statement by a cross section of Ghanaians, the ruling party seemed not to have repented as the rest of the party's national and regional executives continue to support the unguarded statement made by the their national chairman. He said the assertion by the NDC National Secretary, Asiedu Nketsiah, that some judges were corrupt and that the party would ensure that those judges are sacked, was an indication that the party was poised to interfere in the matters of the judiciary. He intimated that since the leadership of the NDC maintained that it is the party that formed the government so it could adopt so many ways to purge the judiciary if government functionaries failed to do so, it is incumbent on President John Atta Mills to intervene and call the NDC executives to order since independence of the judiciary is one of the tenets of democracy. It would be recalled that at a news conference. on Tuesday, August 17, 20 I 0, to show solidarity to the beleaguered Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who has lost a number of high-profile cases against former New Patriotic Party (NPP) officials, Dr. Kwabena Adjei accused Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood and members of the bench of a "grand conspiracy" to ensure that NDC loses cases in the law courts. As a result, Dr. Kwabena Adjei warned that the NDC will "clean the judiciary, threatening", we will clear it if they don't take steps to clean it. "We will clean it, and let everybody everywhere blame us for interfering in the judiciary and we will take them on at the right time, you will see how we'll clean it. There are many ways to kill a cat," he fumed. On Thursday, August 19, the minority in parliament also called for the immediate arrest of Kwabena Adjei at a press conference addressed by Hon. Joe Ghartey, Member of Parliament (MP) for Essikado, arguing that the NDC's chairman's comments about the judiciary amounted to treason hence he must be hauled to answer for his comments. A section of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association also laid down their tools in protest against the comments. Source: Daily Guide