Former Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana and Nigeria, Yaw Nsarkoh has argued that Ghana must address the professional and career risks faced by judges who make decisions that displease powerful political interests, warning that expecting judicial officers to withstand such pressures without institutional protection is unrealistic.
Using the phrase “Even Judges Must Eat” as the central provocation of his address, the former business executive said judges, like other professionals, have families, careers and livelihoods that can be affected by the decisions they make.
Speaking at a JoyNews and An Amalgam of Professionals event in Accra on Tuesday, October 20, he questioned the expectation that judges should be willing to sacrifice their careers or personal security to uphold the rule of law while working within systems vulnerable to political influence.
He pointed to the possibility of judges facing arbitrary transfers or having their careers stalled after delivering judgments that run counter to the interests of powerful people.
“The possibility that independent judges that give judgments which rub the political classes and their lackeys the wrong way can end up being victims of arbitrary and illogical transfers, or see their careers ruined by being parked in a sinecure exist as signposts of danger,” he said.
Mr Nsarkoh argued that these risks could encourage a culture of professional self-preservation in which individuals avoid decisions or actions that might put their careers in jeopardy.
He said such behaviour was not confined to the judiciary, challenging other professional groups to reflect on whether they were willing to stand up to powerful interests when doing so carried personal risks.
However, he warned against accepting a general decline in professional standards as inevitable.
“But we cannot accept and endorse a race to the bottom by professional groups, so we must discuss needed reforms,” he said.
Mr Nsarkoh argued that the answer lay in improving institutional safeguards and creating conditions in which professionals could act independently without unreasonable fear of political retaliation.
He also warned that persistent poverty and inequality could threaten social stability, saying a society that fails to provide dignity for its citizens cannot guarantee lasting peace and security.