Chief Justice (CJ) Sophia Akuffo
Chief Justice (CJ) Sophia Akuffo has threatened to shut down the Wa District Court in the Upper West Region within six months, if officials of the municipal assembly fail to find suitable location for the court.
The court is currently sharing a small structure with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), a situation the CJ has described as unacceptable.
She made the remarks while inspecting the facility together with the Wa municipal chief executive (MCE), Issahaku Tahiru Moomin, on her maiden visit to the region on Wednesday.
“This should not be tolerated, especially when some monies have been made available through the District Assemblies Common Fund for the improvement of infrastructure for the Judicial Service,’ Ms Sophia Akuffo stressed.
The CJ urged both the regional minister and the MCE to relocate the SADA and leave the structure for the court to use in the interim while preparations are made to get it (court) a permanent building.
“Courts should not be allowed to share structures with other departments and agencies,” she said, especially when the judiciary, in recent times, has been accused of underhand dealings.
“Someone can just be giving money to another on the premises of the court and a passer-by may see and think it is an official of the court,” she pointed out, adding that all those things affect the integrity of the judiciary.
Justice Akuffo also visited the Wa circuit and high courts as well as the residential accommodation of the various judges.
She later inspected a court complex that was under construction but had been abandoned for several years.
The CJ also paid a courtesy call on the Acting Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Chinnia Issahaku, and the Overlord of Walla Kingdom, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV.
Justice Akuffo said her visit to the region was to apprise herself of the current conditions of the courts, which would inform the kind of solutions to offer to improve the situation.
She also interacted with members of the Judicial Services Association of Ghana (JUSAG) to find out their challenges and how to resolve them so as to boost the morale of the members towards effective justice delivery in the country.
Wa Naa Pelpuo commended the chief justice for being the first to officially visit the Upper West Region, saying that it was a demonstration of her strong commitment to improve the justice delivery system across the country.
He appealed to the CJ to allow the traditional councils to handle land litigations to relieve the courts of land-related disputes.
GNA