Fifty-six (56) percent of respondents of a survey conducted by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Consortium, grouping the GII, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and SEND Ghana, said the service was corrupt.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PE4Zhm2wUvJTNLccRVxfqSoS7DcHrDzj”]The survey is part of the four-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project – Accountable Democratic Institutions and Systems Strengthening (ADISS) being implemented in 50 districts across the nation.

ADISS seeks to renew and build upon on-going efforts and also increase the capacity of anti-corruption civil society organizations (CSOs) to motivate citizens to apply pressure on policymakers and institutions through a number of targeted and focused actions with the aim to reduce corruption.

Speaking at a forum held to at Nkawie, the district capital to discuss the findings of the survey, Samuel Harrison-Cudjoe, Research Officer of the GACC, said the people mentioned the police, media, political parties, education and health institutions as also corrupt.

The survey, he indicated, was conducted between April and May, 2016, and the views of 445 people were sampled.

The meeting brought together heads of decentralized department of the district assembly, religious and traditional leaders, the security agencies, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and assembly members.

Mr. Harrison-Cudjoe said the goal was to find out people’s understanding of corruption, citizens’ assessment of corruption in their district and to know how and where they experienced corruption.

He noted that the citizens’ had fair knowledge of what corruption was and said he found it refreshing that about 99 percent of them was ready to fight it.

He underlined the need to give strong support and to adequately resource public institutions mandated to check corruption.

He encouraged everybody to be bold to publicly expose those, who engaged in corrupt practices.

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Source: GNA

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[contextly_sidebar id=”hmkgdurJseXSceT3TJpcQdbsyKzIyoWt”]Members of the Delta Force stormed a Kumasi Circuit court on Thursday, and vandalized some court property, and freed 13 of their members, who were facing trial for allegedly harassing the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei.

The Service in the statement said “this act of impunity is not only a grave affront to the independence and dignity of the judiciary, but also an attack on the rule of law and the administration of justice in a constitutional democracy.”

“The Judiciary is the last bastion and bulwark for the defence and protection of the constitution and the rule of law. This barbaric incident is most regrettable and dents the image of the country which is seen as a beacon of democracy in Africa,” the statement added.

Other proposals

The Service also made a number of demands including a call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the Minister of Interior, to take immediate steps to provide maximum security at all times for judges.

It further demanded an immediate investigation into the incident, adding that, the perpetrators dealt with decisively in accordance with law.

“The nation’s attempt at democratic governance and enforcement of the rule of law will flounder and fail if such actions are allowed to foster.”

While appealing to judges and staff to remain calm and discharge their duties without fear, the Service also said it has taken note of the assurances given by the government with regards to this matter.

“The Council will keep in touch with government on the issue of security for Judges and staff and additional steps to be taken to avert any such incidents in the future.”

The Judicial Council also called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the Minister of the Interior to take immediate steps to provide maximum security at all times for the Judge concerned and indeed all Judges and courts in the country.

Judges panic over Delta Force attack in open court

The Judges and Magistrates Association of Ghana earlier expressed fear for the lives of its members following the incident.

According to the judges, the incident on Thursday has brought to light the threat they face each day with the inadequate security at the various courts in the country.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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At a solemn ceremony held at the Ridge Church, on Saturday, March 25, to mark the 10^th anniversary of his death, the president described the late Chief Justice as a “respectable and decent man”.

The event was attended by Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia; the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, Justice William Atuguba; the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Gloria Akuffo; and the widow of the late Chief Justice, Mrs. Jane Acquah.

According to Akufo-Addo, Justice Acquah, until his appointment as a Justice of the High Court in 1989, was “one of the most diligent lawyers in Cape Coast and the courts in which he practised.”

He said, the late Chief Justice distinguished himself as an eminent jurist, and rose to become a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1995.

“In my practice as a lawyer, I appeared before him as a member of the panel of the Supreme Court in cases that have shaped our constitutional jurisprudence, including Mensah v. Attorney-General [1997-98] 1 GLR 227 and Republic v. Tommy Thompson Books Limited and Others (No 1) [1997-98] 1 GLR 611,” he said.

Akufo-Addo added that, “As Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, I appeared before him, when he sat as a member of the panel of the Supreme Court in Amidu v. Kufuor and Others [2001-2002] 2 GLR 510 and Tsikata v. Attorney-General [2001-2002] 2 GLR 1, where he was a part of the original minority, and subsequent majority on review of a case that gripped the public attention of our nation.”

With all these constitutionally decided cases in the late Chief Justice’s armoury of judgments, President Akufo-Addo noted that “it came as no surprise to me, and many others in the legal fraternity, when my former boss, President John Agyekum Kufuor, appointed him as the eleventh Chief Justice of the Republic in July 2003, an appointment that was fitting for a man who was so deeply committed to the principle of judicial independence.”

As Chief Justice, President Akufo-Addo stated that Justice Acquah “helped champion the efforts to reform and codify the laws of Ghana’s customary dispute resolution. He will be remembered for his initiative to improve the excellence of the Judicial Service, and justice delivery in Ghana. And I am pleased to see that his efforts and initiatives have been continued, even more vigorously by his successor, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.”

The president expressed worry about the integrity of the country’s judicial system saying, “it was badly damaged a couple of years ago by a video exposé put together by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.”

Confidence in the judicial system of any country, the President indicated, is necessary for a thriving democracy and economic growth. He, thus, urged all members of the bar, the bench and the public to guard the integrity of the judicial process jealously.

“I believe that it is time for us to accept that justice delivery is a service and just like any other service, the customer must be satisfied with the entire process of the service, in this case, justice. When we have an efficient delivery of justice through our courts, investors, domestic and foreign, will be encouraged to invest their resources in Ghana because they can be assured of an efficient and business-friendly judicial system. The late Chief Justice Acquah was a firm supporter of the introduction of technology in the operations of the judicial system,” he added.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The organizers of the event were forced to improvise with phone torches and lamps, while personalities including the UK High Commissioner to Ghana, John Benjamin, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Woode, and Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, addressed the gathering of eminent legal professionals.

Citi FM’s Fred Tettey Djabanor, reported that the lights went off five minutes into the programme, which had started after midday.

According to him, officials at the facility said there was no fuel in the standby generator to power it.

Other dignitaries present at the event included the Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, and the Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong.

The election adjudication manual contains steps and processes put in place in order to ensure a smooth adjudication of electoral cases in the likely event of an election dispute.

Ghana has experienced unstable power in the last few years. Although there is an improvement generally in the supply of power, intermittent outages still do occur.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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