Judges must be loyal to the constitution, not appointing presidents – Ansa-Asare warns

Kwaku Ansa-Asare, former Director of the Ghana School of Law, spoke about judicial independence. He emphasized that judges should be loyal only to the Constitution. Their loyalty should not lie with political parties that appoint them.

In an interview with TV3 on May 7, 2025, he criticized political bias in judicial appointments. He argued that this culture harms the integrity of Ghana’s judiciary.

Ansa-Asare noted that when a party is in power, they seek sympathetic judges. For example, an NPP government may prefer judges aligned with their goals.

He clarified that once appointed, judges serve the nation above all else. It does not matter if they were appointed by the NPP or NDC.

“Once a judge is appointed,” he said, “their loyalty must always be to the Constitution.”

To illustrate his point, he referenced Sir Arku Korsah from Ghana's early post-independence era. Korsah famously told Nkrumah that his loyalty was to the Constitution and not to him.

Ansa-Asare believes such courage should be common among judges. If it were, Ghana’s governance and democracy would be stronger.

“If we can emulate those examples,” he concluded, “there will be no problem for this country.”