Anthony Forson Presenting the PPEs to the Chief Justice
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has donated some personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Judicial Service of Ghana.
The gesture forms part of the association’s effort to support the Judicial Service in its fight against the novel Covid-19 pandemic which has adversely affected justice delivery in the country.
The items comprised Veronica buckets, liquid soaps, hand sanitizers, face masks, paper towels and a hand-held infrared thermometer, all worth more than GH¢30,000.
Presenting the items, the National President of GBA, Anthony Forson Jnr., indicated that it is becoming clear from the signs that we would have to live with the coronavirus disease hence the need to do the donation since the Bar and Judicial Service are partners in the justice delivery process.
He said the Bar decided to donate the items to help the Judicial Service extend its distribution of PPE to all courts in the country so that judges and lawyers would be protected.
“This is the start of a relationship to support the Judicial Service, and I call on all the lawyers to do their little bit to help in this time,” Mr. Forson said.
He added that this was the first step and pledged that the Bar would mobilize more funds to support the Judicial Service having in mind that the service is constrained in terms of funds.
“We pledge to support the initiatives that have been put in place to decongest the courts, manage court cases such that the disease will not spread,” he added.
Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah, who received the items, expressed gratitude for the “unexpected gesture”.
He said the service had somewhat struggled since the emergence of the Covid-19 outbreak since no organization factored it into its budget.
Justice Anin-Yeboah called for more partnership from the Bar, adding that it is difficult to receive gifts from other bodies due to the nature of their work.
Present at the short ceremony were Supreme Court judges – Justices Jones Dotse, Sule Gbadegbe, Samuel Marful-Sau and Nene Amegather – including Prof. Nii Ashie Kotei, lawyers, and Judicial Service staff.