Our Supreme Court Has No Business Setting Itself up The Conscience of the Nation, Whatever That Is

A Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong, a legal academic and a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and a nominee to the Supreme Court, has described the nation's apex court, the Supreme Court, as the ‘conscience of
the nation’.
He said the court was “the conscience of the nation” to an extent that it had described itself as a policy court, and in
that capacity, played a very important role in the country’s development.
"The Court can certainly deepen the culture of good governance in Ghana, the court can help in the promotion of
human rights, improving access to justice and so on and so forth," Prof Oppong stated during his vetting at the
public sitting of the Appointments Committee of Parliament in Accra.
He said this in response to a question by Mr Cletus Avoka, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of
Parliament (MP) for Zebilla.
The Daily Searchlight is of the firm opinion that the Supreme Court has no business setting itself up as a so-called
‘conscience of the nation’. We believe that the Supreme Court would be delving in dangerous and uncharted paths if
it were to decide to set itself up on such an adventure.
Rather, the Supreme Court, as an embodiment of the 1992 Constitution, should be guided by the aspirations of the
Constitution.
We believe that the sole criteria that should guide the Supreme Court, is whether actions live up to the aspirations of
the constitution, and not whether it lives up to any so-called cultural, tribal, religious or any other concern. If it is an
action that can live up to constitutionality as far as Ghana’s foundational document is concerned, then it should meet
muster and should be protected by our Supreme Court.
We believe that if Ghana has a conscience, then that Conscience is the 1992 Constitution, and not anything else, and
any exercise by the Supreme Court to discover any other so-called conscience, is an exercise that can only result in
disaster.
Let the 1992 Constitution, be the guide, and guard.
(Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of 23 rd August, 2024).