“My Lord, that will be all for the witness.”

Justice Paul nodded as the lawyer took his seat, done with his cross-examination. He gazed at Chief Inspector Sowah. “Any re-examination?”

The police officer duly rose to his feet. “No re-examination, my Lord.”

Justice Paul nodded again, then began writing in his book as usual.

It was a Thursday afternoon, and he had just conducted the final trial of the day. A criminal trial involving a young lady accused of defrauding a group of desperate, unemployed young men of over half a million Ghana cedis with false promises that she would secure jobs for them. So far, the evidence against her was pretty damning, and despite the best efforts of the lawyer to discredit the prosecution witnesses, it was pretty evident that she did defraud the young men. A hefty prison sentence undoubtedly stared her in the face.

A big shame, considering how well she dressed and spoke. One would think she would be wise enough to do the right thing and steer clear of falling afoul of the law. But, she was proving how true the saying ‘looks can be deceiving’ was.

“Please come up with a date,” he ordered Chief Inspector Sowah and the lawyer, who duly obeyed and discussed a suitable date. Once they settled on one, they informed Elias, who duly checked the diary, confirmed it was available, and informed Justice Paul.

Nodding as he completed his orders for the trial, he read them out. The final prosecution witness was to take the stand in two weeks’ time. The involved parties nodded in obeisance, ready to find themselves in this courtroom in a fortnight to continue this case.

As Elias moved to take the criminal record notebook from him, he murmured, “Hm. See this nice, eloquent woman. You’re there defrauding people. Such a shame.”

Elias smirked as he shook his head in agreement. “It’s embarrassing oo, my Lord,” he agreed in a low tone as he took away the notebook. “You can never understand some people.”

Nodding at Wayne, he rose to his feet as ‘Court Rise’ was loudly declared by the translator, bowing before all present before heading to his chambers.

Another day of work come to an end. Now, to sign off on some processes, head home, get some rest, spend time with the kids, and work on that backlog waiting for him.

Just a normal day in the life of His Honour Paul Kwarteng Takyi.

***

“Paul?”

It was evening, and Justice Paul was busy in his study, poring over books of the law to write up various pending rulings and judgments when he heard the voice of his beloved wife. He looked up, smiling at her head poked in.

“Yes, Debbie?”

Debbie stepped fully into the room, a knowing smile on her face as she leaned against the doorframe. “How’s it going with all those judgments and rulings you’re working on?”

Paul let out a long sigh, shrugging as he pushed his reading glasses up his nose. “Ah well, you know the drill. Getting them typed up is the real battle,” he responded. “But I’ll get there—eventually.”

“Mm-hmm,” Debbie replied, nodding her head. “I know you will. You always do. Anyways, would a glass of pineapple ginger juice help you out?”

Paul’s face lit up like a child being offered candy. He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, my dear, absolutely!”

Debbie wrinkled her nose in mock disapproval. “I’ll never understand your obsession with that abomination of a concoction. Ginger has no business being a part of pineapple juice. None whatsoever.”

Paul raised a finger in defence. “Ah, but it does. Don’t you know how that spicy kick from the ginger perfectly balances the sweetness of the pineapple? Please, it’s a very necessary concoction. I daresay it’s a possible catalyst for world peace mpo. I’m telling you!”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Herh, you’re not serious.”

“Hwɛ! You dunno what’s going on, my dear,” he teased, grinning at her.

Debbie shook her head and wagged a playful finger at him before turning to leave. “You should be very grateful I love you enough to indulge these your oddities.”

Paul chuckled as she disappeared down the hall. “Always am!”

Feeling gingered by the prospect of some ginger entering his system, he sat up and read through his writings with a little more vigour. As always, he liked to write down his points before typing them out on his laptop. It just had a better… zing to it.

Suddenly, his phone rang, shattering the tranquility of his study.

Feeling rather irritated by the rude interruption, Justice Paul glanced at the caller ID, noting the unfamiliar number and lack of a Truecaller identity with a furrowed brow.

Who the heck was calling him at this time?

With a sigh, he reluctantly answered the call.

“Hello?” he answered, his tone crisp and professional.

“Good evening, Your Honour,” a smooth voice greeted him from the other end. “We hope we’re not interrupting anything important.”

Justice Paul frowned, his curiosity piqued. “Umm… who is this?”

“Oh, we’re just a group of concerned litigants, Your Honour,” the voice replied. “We recently had a case struck out from your court for want of prosecution, and we were hoping to discuss the matter with you.”

The frown on his face grew deeper. What was this about? He never had these sorts of discussions, and did not even want to entertain them. He had no tolerance for attempts to influence or force him to explain his decisions outside the courtroom.

“I see,” he responded evenly, his tone betraying the anger bubbling beneath the surface. “And what exactly did you hope to discuss?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before the voice spoke again, this time tinged with a hint of desperation. “We understand that mistakes can happen, Your Honour. But we’re willing to make it worth your while to reconsider your decision. You see, it’s impossible to get everything you’re asking our lawyers to get, but we need this case to keep going. So please, whatever you want, we’ll give it to you. Please, just restore the case.”

Justice Paul’s blood boiled at the audacity of the offer. The implication was clear: they were attempting to bribe him.

“I’m sorry,” he replied, his voice cold and steely. “But I will not entertain such offers. My decisions are based on the merits of the case and the principles of justice, not on financial incentives.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, followed by a chuckle. “Oh, Your Honour, I understand how you feel. But… I’m sure you also understand that everyone has their price. Everyone has a price, and the best bidder wins. Please, we’re willing to make it worth your while.”

Justice Paul bristled at the statement. This fool actually thought he could be bought? The disrespectful temerity!

“I don’t understand that, Mr. Man! I don’t understand that at all,” he snapped. “Not everyone has a so-called price. Some people are principled and know money isn’t everything, especially if it comes with a cost! Now, please and please again, my integrity is not for sale. Consider your case well and truly struck out, and consider yourselves fortunate that I do not report this conversation to the authorities. Do not ever call me again. Do you understand me? Nonsense!”

He ended the call and tossed the phone aside, glaring at it. “Such rubbish!” he spat. “Trying to flush my integrity down the toilet. Do you know how hard I worked to get here? Huh?”

“Paul? What’s wrong?”

Debbie walked into the study, holding a chilled bottle of pineapple ginger juice in one hand and a glass in the other. Her face was filled with concern after hearing her husband rage before entering.

Paul took a deep breath, his lips tight as he tried to compose himself. “Debbie, you wouldn’t believe it,” he began, his voice still simmering with indignation. “Some corrupt fools just tried to bribe me! Thinking I’ll happily sell my integrity for their dirty money.”

Debbie’s eyebrows lifted as dismay crossed her face. “Yehowa! Bribe you? On a case?”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair. “Yes. Some old case bi that I had to dismiss because they were not taking it seriously. Constantly flouting my orders and all. And what even annoys me is how they even had the audacity to suggest that everyone has a price. Can you imagine that? In their eyes, everyone’s principles are negotiable. It’s disgusting, Debbie. Absolutely disgusting.”

Debbie let out a soft sigh and pulled up a chair beside him. “Paul, honey, relax. Don’t let this get you too worked up. What matters is that you did the right thing by refusing their offer. That’s all. Don’t let their foolishness get to you.”

He huffed, still fuming. “It’s not just their audacity, Debbie. It’s what it represents: this constant attack on what’s right. It’s how they think the justice system is just another marketplace where everything has a price tag. It infuriates me, it really does!”

She reached out and placed a comforting hand on his arm. “Paul, calm down. The devil is a liar. He knows the good you’re doing and wants to derail you with this nonsense. But he lie bad. My husband is a principled man. He won’t allow some silly money to lead him to subvert justice.”

He exhaled slowly, some of the tension easing out of his shoulders. He nodded and looked up at her. “Thanks, Debbie. It’s not easy, mohm. It can be hard to stay steady when you’re surrounded by people trying to pull you down into the mud.”

Debbie nodded as she poured the juice into the glass and handed it to him. “Oh, I know paaa. It’s sad how justice is seen to be for sale more often than not. But Paul, just remember God put you in this position for a reason. He knows that as for you, you won’t entertain that sort of crooked corruption. Just stand firm. I don’t know if they’ll call again, but if they do, report them or something. That’s all.”

“Oh, I will. I certainly will. Nobody’s going to use their silly interests to ruin my career, that’s for sure.” Paul took the glass and took a big swig, the cool drink refreshing him both physically and emotionally. “I needed this. Thanks, honey.”

“You’re welcome. Now forget about those crooks and get back to studying, okay? So many rulings to write, so little time…”

Hmm, corruption in the justice system. It’s not a joke. Thankfully, our judge has rejected it. Let’s hope he maintains that stance…