Barker-Vormawor Questions Why Supreme Court Judges "Failed To Exercise Their Intellect"

• Oliver Barker-Vormawor has questioned why the Supreme Court judges failed to use their intellect in a matter that came before them last month
• The convener for FixTheCountry Movement said it was disappointing for the members of the bench at the apex court not to act on the matter of accused people being sent to the wrong courts
• He said it was unfortunate that the entire legal profession in Ghana seems tight-lipped about the issue that blatantly infringes on the fundamental human rights of people

Convener for FixTheCountry Movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has questioned the intellect of the Supreme Court judges in one of his series of social media posts.

Giving a never-heard-before account of events preceding his bail on March 16, the social change campaigner disclosed that he planned to fight a more significant human rights issue embedded in Ghana's criminal justice system.

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Oliver Barker-Vormawor was dragged before a Magistrates' Court and charged with treason felony for a post on Facebook.

The Magistrates' Court directed that Mr Barker-Vormawor be held in police custody for the charges, but the court could not grant bail for the charge brought against him.

Barker-Vormawor disclosed that he wanted to challenge the practice where state prosecutors would send accused people wrong courts to stifle their attempts to secure bail.

"When I was arrested, I had the option of applying for bail for myself; or to challenge the practice of sending people before wrong courts. The first option would release me only. The second option would have brought justice to nearly 10,000 people who are stuck in our criminal justice system.

"I asked myself, as an activist what should I do? Should I fight for myself only or seek for my detention to positively impact our criminal justice system. I told my lawyers, let's fight for the people first.

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"I sat in jail; and challenged this all the way to the highest court of the land. At the Supreme Court, our judges called such a pressing issue of keeping so many people in jail without trial "an intellectual exercise".

"If it was an intellectual exercise; why did they fail to exercise their intellect?" he quizzed in a provocative Facebook post on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.

He then took a swipe at the "entire Legal Profession" in Ghana for not speaking against the "horrible practice" of accused people being dragged to the wrong courts to trample their rights to access bail within a reasonable period.

Background to Barker-Vormawor's "intellectual exercise" question

On February 17, 2022, lawyers for Mr Barker-Vormawor failed to get the Tema High Court to grant a habeas corpus application for the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney-General to appear before the court to justify the continued detention of Barker-Vormawor.

Unhappy with the High Court's ruling the lawyers went to the Supreme Court to quash the Tema High Court's decision.

But at the Supreme Court too, his lawyers were denied their request.

On March 2, 2022, the application was struck out by the apex after lawyers for Baker-Vormawor withdrew it.

The judges explained that the paramount objective of Mr Barker-Vormawor's lawyers was to secure their client's liberty and not be filing applications.

Dr Justice Srem-Sai, according to the Graphic report, told the Supreme Court that he was following the instructions of his client.

But the apex court reportedly told him that he was to guide his client as a lawyer.

Justice Torkornoo, a member of the Supreme Court bench, then told counsel to stop indulging in "intellectual exercise" and do the right thing which was going to the High Court get bail for his client.

Justice Jones Dotse presided over the apex court with Justices Nene Amegatcher, Prof Nii Ashie Kotey, Torkornoo and Yonny Kulendi.

‘To Be Respected In Ghana, You Need To Be A Thief’ – Barker-Vormawor Reacts to Jospong’s Award

FixThe Contry’s Oliver Barker-Vormawor has made a provocative post in reaction to an honorary degree awarded to the founder of Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw-Agyepong.

The Lead convener for social change group FixTheCountry shared an image of Mr Siaw-Agyepong with the caption: “A Republic that celebrates our problems will never progress! To be respected in Ghana, you need to be a thief!”

Mr Barker-Vormawor’s reaction to Siaw-Agyepong’s honorary award reflects long-standing criticisms against the business mogul.

Source: YEN.com.gh