Chief Justice Georgina Wood
Alex Nartey National President of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has said the judges in the various courts in the country scare staff of the association.
He stated that the staff have developed some fear for the judges which undermines the confidence of the workforce.
“We need to instill confidence in the workforce; one thing we have noticed is that the staff fear the judges too much.”
Scary Judges
Nartey, speaking at the opening of the two day Conference of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) on the theme: “Restoring the Image of The Judiciary.”
The JUSAG President who was supposed to be delivering a goodwill message to the judges and magistrates rather used the occasion to clear his chest over the litany of contentious issues confronting the association.
He said the management of the Judicial Service is too hard when it comes to disciplinary matters involving staff of JUSAG.
According to him, there had been instances where three judges had been empanelled to investigate rather very basic matters the association could have handled at the administrative level.
Nartey noted while expressing the associations’ commitment and unwavering support for the Bench that JUSAG staff have been unfairly treated over the years.
He said members of the association could be susceptible to corruption because they are poorly paid.
“So many factors contribute to corruption, if you have a registrar in Ghana today whose take home pay is below GH¢1,000 and little is said about it, we all can be sure that it can lead to the registrar seeking favour elsewhere to make ends meet.”
He was of the view that the issue of corruption ought to be looked at holistically, especially, when the first thing that comes to mind when corruption is mentioned is “the image of the judiciary and that of the Judicial Service.”
Bench-Bar Respect
Beson Nutsukpui, President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in his message stated that the Bench-Bar respect that existed between the two parties has declined.
He stated that although it is not said publicly, both parties acknowledge that the relationship is not what it used to be stressing that “To put it bluntly, we are sometimes disrespectful of each other, an effort to restore the image of the judiciary may well need to begin with both the Bench and the Bar.
He, however, warned that the Bar will not countenance the use of social media or any form of medium to threaten or mount scurrilous attacks on judges because an independent judiciary is the backbone of rule of law.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com