Professor Sagay Denies Threatening Judges

Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has described as “sensationalism”, the reports that he threatened judges who allegedly disregard provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

Speaking in a statement on Monday, Sagay said media houses shouldn’t resort to “offensive terms” in trying to carry out their duties or make sales.

“I want to deny emphatically that I issued any threat to Judges. What I said was that same Judges still adjourn corruption cases for more than the maximum of 14 days stipulated by the ACJA and that there have also been cases in which Judges have adjourned to give rulings in interlocutory applications instead of waiting for the day of judgment on the substantive matter of corruption to read both ruling on the interlocutory application and Judgment on the substantive issue of corruption,” read the statement.

“I then added that in my view, such lapses constituted gross misconduct deserving of sanctions by the NJC.

“I appreciate that newspapers have to make sales in order to survive. But that should not give rise to undue sensationalism and offensive terms at the expense of accuracy and the true message of the person interviewed.

“I am very open to journalist interviews because I believe that the press is a critical institution in the fight against corruption.

“This cooperation and openness will be destroyed by the publication of inaccurate, self-serving and misleading statements in the guise of interview reports,” it read.