Judicial Service staff who are mandated to discharge their duties across the country are faced with a number of challenges in their line of work.
The problems range from among other things; dilapidated building structures, to lack of proper furniture and working tools in spite of numerous years of justice delivery in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”WdUwk9bpvjahZnNQ2IX5I9JDGGXo6iR8″]A nationwide reportage by Citi News journalists revealed that challenges have been a major source of worry to judicial workers and members of the general public who go to the courts on a daily basis.
Eastern Region
At the Koforidua ‘Cocoa Ase; Magistrate court for instance, the court building has broken louvre blades with a leaking roof.
Eastern Regional Correspondent, Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku who visited the court which is located directly behind the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council said the current state of the ‘Cocoa Ase’ court was not too pleasant.
The broken louvre blades make it very easy for birds and other insects to enter the court room during sittings
The concrete walls and the ceiling of the building had cracks causing the place to leak anytime it rained.
Sources confirmed that there have been instances where court proceedings had been disrupted by heavy rains.
Broken chairs of court clerks, malfunctioning ceiling fans and lamp holders are just a few of the many challenges, that require immediate attention.
Upper East Region
Some courts in the Upper East Region are also confronted with infrastructural challenges.
The Bolgatanga High court, Circuit court and the magistrate court in the Upper East Region were established to adjudicate on legal matters and pass their verdict on cases brought before them.
Even though the courts furniture situation is relatively good, some of the court’s windows are without wire-mesh and broken louvre blades.
Some of the courts have their fascia boards rotten and some have their ceilings in a poor state. Others too have their electrical cables widely exposed.
The air-conditioners are also not functioning.
Upper East Regional correspondent, Frederick Awuni reports that paintings of the courts are also peeling off, a renovation of the courts is however key to giving the structures that deliver justice a facelift.
North East Region
Meanwhile, the situation is different in the North East region, where correspondent, Diana Ngon reports that some courts have been renovated.
She says, the situation in Tamale is not as bad as a few years back.
Recently, the Chief Justice assessed the state of court houses in the Northern Region at the time when there was general concern about the poor state of the court system in the region.
However, in the past 12 months, a number of the courts houses have been refurbished.
These include the Yendi, Walewale and the Tamale remand courts.
Although the Walewale District court has been renovated, the registrar George Amoah told Citi News they need an overhead reservoir to store water.
This is because, they are unable to use the sanitary facilities due to the lack of water.
He also appealed for a fence wall to be built around the magistrate’s Bangalow.
There are however some districts without court systems making it difficult to access justice.
Volta Region
Law courts in the Volta region are in deplorable state with most of them having dirty walls, dilapidated furniture and malfunctioning fans, according to Citi News’ Benjamin Aklama.
The old and hard pews found in most of the courts barely provide any comfort for court users.
The region has two high courts, two circuit courts and a magistrate court in the Volta Regional capital, Ho, with a few others dotted around the region.
These courts do not only look old but are also stocked with old pews and noisy fans.
The paint on the walls of the court 1, located adjacent the Volta Regional Coordinating Council is peeling off, with the furniture literally on their last legs.
A lawyer with the Attorney General’s Department who pleaded anonymity, said the courts were built to global standards but have not been maintained in a long while.
According to him, the pews are old and hard and the washrooms are nothing to write home about.
He bemoaned the situation in which old cringy ceiling fans make so much noise in court which causes them to strain their voices in order to be heard – a situation which cuts across almost all courts within the Volta Region.
Western Region
In the Western Region, court buildings and other judicial service infrastructure in the Western Region have not seen any significant improvement despite a plea from the Chief Justice to MMDAs to use part of their resources to refurbish the courts.
The Chief Justice, who toured the region two months ago, complained about the poor state of some court buildings, and said they were not suitable for justice delivery.
Even though the Western Region has been split into Western North and the Western Region, the region, which has over three million population according to the 2010 census, has just 32 courts including a High Court, District courts and the other divisional courts.
Even with this, the only courts that are actually functioning in terms of resources are just here at the High court.
Lawyers are not happy with the state of facilities which they say impede judicial services.
The Western Regional President of the Ghana Bar Association, Patience Diaba, says the deplorable state of the courts do not inspire confidence in justice delivery.
Correspondent Akwasi Agyei Annim reports that, the Takoradi Market circle District court, where the Nigerian suspected kidnapper who broke jail, looked very clean, well painted with good ceilings.
Reverend George Awinaba Amoah, who is the Deputy Administrator for the Western Regional Judicial Service, admitted the concerns, but said collaboration between the service and the local assembly is critical for addressing the challenges.
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By: citinewsroom.com |Ghana