Chief Justice (middle), Justices Adinyira and Gbadegbe in a group photograph with some of the students
The Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, has indicated that some stringent measures have been put in place to close the possible loopholes that lead to corrupt activities in the Judiciary.
According to her, the Judiciary, just like other human institutions, is faced with challenges such as corruption but efforts are being made to reduce corruption to the barest minimum, if not totally eradicated, in the delivery of justice in Ghana.
She made the statement at the 11th Chief Justice’s Annual Mentoring Programme for some senior high school students as well as head porters at the Supreme Court.
The mentoring programme, which was under the theme “I Pledge Myself to the Service of Ghana”, is meant to instill into students a sense of duty to their nation and a burning commitment to the development of the country.
Responding to a question on how the Anas expose’ on corruption in the judiciary has affected the delivery of justice and the image of judges, the Chief Justice noted that the Complaints Unit of the Judiciary had over the past years dealt with complaints brought before it.
She said at other times, she herself dealt with some of those complaints that came before the unit and those who were found culpable were dealt with accordingly.
The Judiciary was hit with a massive bribery scandal in September 2015, when an exposé by Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team revealed that some higher and lower court judges took bribes from litigants to bend the law in their favour.
About 22 lower court judges and 12 High Court judges indicted in the exposé were dismissed by the state while some are still fighting for their ‘innocence’.
Against this backdrop, the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, noted that they were working hard to turn the situation around.
“With the setup that we have brought now there is only one place you can pay money. Money must not be seen changing hands between anybody except between the litigant and the cashier. And in some cases even the cashier does not collect money; you will go and pay the money at a nearby bank and bring the pay slip.
So the measures are there. As for bad things even the Bible says it is in the heart of the human being. It is for us to take measures that will minimize opportunities or even eradicate these opportunities of being bad”, the Chief Justice pointed out.
Blind/Deaf Lawyer
Answering a question posed by a student of the Mampong Demonstration School for the deaf about whether the deaf can become a lawyer, the Chief Justice stated that although the country does not have the required facilities at the moment, some necessary measures will be put in place to accommodate such interested persons in the near future.
She said she would begin the needed stakeholder consultations to see the way forward to get the first lawyer for Ghana, who is visually impaired or having hearing disability.
“I would want to see someone cross that line. We will begin the conversation with the appropriate authorities and see how to go about it”, she added.
Justice Sophia Akuffo entreated the female head porters to take full advantage of the opportunity given them by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to fashion a path that would lead them to develop skills that would be beneficial to their families, communities and themselves.
Patriotism
The chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education, Josephine Nkrumah, bemoaned the dwindling in selflessness among the youth, as many are more interested in what they will benefit from the state and not what the state will benefit from them.
She indicated that the recitation of the national pledge would not be meaningful if our mind, heart and soul are not into what we are saying.
She therefore, encouraged the students and the head porters to be proud of their country and help make it a better place.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak & Maame Anima Akowuah