An assessment of judicial independence on the African continent shows that Ghanaian judges are some of the most politically biased and corrupt on the continent.
The assessment by the African Integrity initiative shows that the independence of judges in Ghana to interpret and review existing laws is occasionally restricted and occasionally subjected to political influence.
Out of a possible mark of 100, Ghanaian judges scored 50.
The African Integrity Indicators assesses this level of political influence between 2014 and 2022 and covers all countries on the African continent.
With its heavy political influence, Ghana is in the same category as Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho.
The best performers, include South Africa, Botswana and Algeria.
Nigeria, Tunisia, Namibia and Malawi are the second-best performers with their judges under very minimal political influence. Their score is 75 out of 100.
Meanwhile, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Niger, Ethiopia, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gabon performed worse than Ghana with a score of 25 out of 100.