The Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, has expressed his satisfaction with the fact that many Ghanaians are using legal processes and the law courts to seek redress for their grievances.
“This is how we will maintain the peace that we are so proud to have in our beloved country, especially in an election year, as we have this year,” he observed.
While inaugurating the Odumase-Krobo High Court in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region yesterday, the Chief Justice said
elections in Ghana, just like those in other parts of the world, could be fraught with misunderstanding, suspicion and disagreements.
However, when such issues arose, he said, “we, the citizens of Ghana, must seek the guidance and adjudication of the law as the only resort. We cannot have violence and insurrection as the means for the resolution of electoral conflicts”
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Electoral precedence
The Chief Justice noted that in Ghana’s recent history, “we have had at least one political party challenge the results of an election in our court of law”.
He said the transparent hearing of that case, the submissions of all parties and the eventual ruling were a credit to the democracy and the various actors in it.
He said it was his fervent hope that it would not only be a precedent but the sole consideration for all matters of electoral conflict in the near and the distant future, stressing: “Let all and sundry pledge to the peaceful settlement of conflicts or disagreements, be they criminal or civil.”
Law to doorstep
Justice Anin Yeboah said it was important for the public to take paramount interest in the law and not see it as something that only concerned lawyers and judges.
Also, he said, the law was crucial in nation-building and lauded the people for the enormous support they had extended to the High Court building project.
He said the new High Court would bring justice to the doorstep of people in the area.
Advice
The Chief Justice urged Judicial Service workers, who would be using the facility, to live up to highest ideals of the law.
“We must ensure that we are not only fair and just but also seen by all to be so, so that all will feel confident in seeking redress from this building and what it represents,” he said.
He urged all citizens of Manya Krobo and surrounding communities to take advantage of the court to deal with all kinds of cases.
Facility
The High Court building shares a compound with the Odumase-Krobo District Police Command.
It has a courtroom, a cashier’s office, a general office and general registry, a judge’s chamber, a robing room, cells for both males and females, and lavatories.
The court has a six-member supporting staff.
Access to justice
The Konor of Manya Krobo and President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, Nene Sakite II, expressed gratitude to the Judicial Service for granting the area a High Court, saying it would appreciably shorten the travelling distance for people to access justice.
The Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Simon Kweku Tetteh, lauded Nene Sakite and the traditional council for the construction of the High Court, which would go a long way to enhance the administration of justice to the people of the traditional area.
Source: graphic.com
