The Ministry of Finance has denied allegations that it has over the last year failed to release funds to the Judicial Service leading to the suspension of services in some areas.
According to the Ministry an amount of GH¢15,278,014 has been released to the service as of June 2014 and was currently processing the subvention for the second quarter.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) last week accused the Ministry of Finance of failing to release funds to the Judicial Service for a year now, thus hampering the work of the service.
According to the association, an annual tour by its National Executives to the Central region revealed that the lack of funds had worsened the living conditions and working environment of the judges and staff of the judiciary.
The GBA also complained that the 15 percent internally generated fund retained by the judiciary was “grossly” inadequate for it to perform its mandate in all ten regions.
However, a statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance said the Ministry was not in arrears as stated by the GBA.
The statement said the Ministry had released an amount of GH¢15,278,014 to the service and gave a breakdown of the amount as follows: compensation related allowances; GH¢8,167,531.60, goods and services; GH¢6,904,330.30 and assets; GH¢206, 182.40.
“We wish to reiterate that it is incorrect the Ministry had not released subvention to the Judicial Service for the past year. We also want to state that, the use of 15% of their Internally Generated Funds by the Service was approved by Parliament. It is only Parliament that can review such a policy,” the statement said.
Source: Graphic Online