Appeal court judge advocates for Alternative Dispute Resolution
Yamoussoukro (Ivory Coast) 26 September 2002 - Nearly 200 American school children and their teachers, who were evacuated from a rebel held city in Ivory Coast, are being flown to neighbouring Ghana Thursday.
The children, who attended an American-run Christian Academy in the central city of Bouake, were rescued Wednesday by French troops who broke through the front lines to reach the compound. The French troops then escorted the children to Ivory Coast's capital, Yamoussoukro, 100 kilometres to the south.
U.S. and Ghanaian officials say the children, as well as the teachers; will be flown to Ghana's capital Accra. Two huge U.S. C-130 Hercules transport planes along with a small number of U.S. troops are on standby at Yamoussoukro Airport.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday the American troops will go where they need to go to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens. There are more that 2,000 Americans in Ivory Coast with 300 of them in Bouake. Mr. Boucher thanked the French authorities for evacuating the Americans from the mission school.
The city of Bouake has been under rebel control since last Thursday when more than 700 disgruntled soldiers launched coordinated attacks on it as well as on the commercial capital Abidjan and the northern town of Korhogo. Abidjan remains under government control.
At least 270 people have been killed in the uprising, including Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou and Ivory Coast's former military ruler, Robert Guei. -VOA
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Yamoussoukro (Ivory Coast) 26 September 2002 - Waving U.S. flags and shouting 'Vive la France!" American schoolchildren escaped a rebel-held Ivory Coast city under siege Wednesday, as U.S. Special Forces and French troops moved in to rescue Westerners caught in the West African nation's bloodiest uprising.
The evacuation under armed French military escort came amid fears of a full-scale battle could envelop Bouake, a central city of half-million residents. "We're running out of everything," said one frightened Ivorian woman, reached by telephone.
"We are scared." U.S. and French troops moved out in force Wednesday to safeguard Westerners caught in a six-day uprising after a failed coup 19 September in which at least 270 people died.
With insurgents holed up in two cities, Bouake and the northern city of Korhogo, President Laurent Gbagbo has pledged an all-out battle to root out rebels in what was once West Africa's most stable and prosperous country.
The U.S. Embassy said late Wednesday the United States was advising all Americans to leave Ivory Coast, saying in a statement that U.S. citizens should go while flights are available and Airports open.
U.S. Authorities meanwhile were "assessing options for the safe removal of all Americans from the unstable areas" of Ivory Coast, the Embassy said. The number of Americans in the once-stable West African nation is in the low thousands.
French troops reached the mission school on the edge of Bouake early Wednesday after a night of new gunfire to bring out Westerners, including 100 American children, and escort them back safely to an airfield in Yamoussoukro, the Ivory Coast capital.
U.S. C-130 Cargo Planes will fly them neighbouring Ghana on Thursday morning, the Pentagon said. The children waved American flags out of car windows as the convoy headed to safety down the region's main road. "We're very happy to get off campus," one girl said as the convoy swept past.
One hundred of the 160 pupils and majority of the 40 teachers and other staff at the school are Americans. The other children are from a range of nationalities.
The Pentagon said the French escorted out 191 people. Arriving after the French, U.S. Special Forces spilled out of two C-130 cargo planes that touched down in Yamoussoukro at mid afternoon from a staging point in Ghana.
Plane ramps came down and U.S. forces secured the tarmac of the forest-lined airstrip in Yamoussoukro, clearing the way for Humvees that came rolling out.
American soldiers humping duffel bags and metal boxes rapidly set up a post at the strip, which hundreds of French troops had made their base for any rescue missions on behalf of Yamoussoukro's foreigners. American officials would not say what the soldiers were going to do next.
About 300 Americans live in Bouake, Ivory Coast's second-largest city, which has been cut off from water, electricity and food since last week's rebel takeover. "Our idea is to get as many out as possible," Richard Buangan, a U.S. diplomat helping to coordinate at the staging area, said of Americans in Bouake after another night of firing outside the International Christian Academy on the city's outskirts.
About 100 well-armed French troops reached the whitewashed compound of the Mission School at midday. "Everyone there is ecstatic," said Neil Gilliland, speaking by telephone from the affiliated Free Will Baptist Missions in Nashville, minutes after the troops' arrival.
Firing broke out again on both sides of the mission at daybreak Wednesday, after panic two nights earlier when rebels breached the walls of the campus and fired from its grounds.
"Nobody was firing at them, but there was gunfire all around," Gilliland said of Monday's shooting outside the school. The armed French troops escorted the evacuees back to Yamoussoukro, where U.S. forces were waiting. Waving U.S. flags and with many wearing U.S. flag T-shirts, the relieved children cheered out the windows at a French convoy headed the other way.
"Vive la France!" - "Long live France!" they hollered. In Bouake, tense residents reached by telephone Wednesday said rebels still controlled the city and could be seen cruising the streets in commandeered vehicles.
In Korhogo, rebels armed with guns and rocket launchers went house to house, rounding up any paramilitary police and soldiers not yet captured, and confiscating their weapons. Trapped in their houses, with no sign of a promised government offensive to rout the rebels, residents were becoming increasingly frustrated. "All my activities are paralysed.
I'm having trouble feeding my family," said mechanic Souleymane Coulibaly. "If this continues, it is us who will go dislodge the mutineers." As foreign troops scrambled to ensure the safety of Westerners, the hundreds of thousands of workers from neighbouring Muslim countries were far more vulnerable in the uprising, which has sparked off deadly rivalries between the mainly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south.
A core group of about 750 to 800 ex-soldiers - angry at their dismissal from the army for their suspected allegiance to the country's former junta leader - were believed behind the insurgency. Paramilitary police killed the ex-junta leader, Gen. Robert Guei, on the first days of the coup attempt.
On Wednesday, some 200 protesters threw stones at the French Embassy, demanding it turn over an opposition leader with a northern, Muslim base of support who is being sheltered by the mission.
They then marched on the embassy of predominantly Muslim Burkina Faso, scaling the walls to pull down and tear up the country's flag. Paramilitary Police over the weekend burned a mostly Muslim shantytown in Abidjan, and Muslim northerners and guest workers reported arrests and beatings.
The government has repeatedly accused the
country's predominantly Muslim, northern-based opposition and unspecified
foreign countries - widely assumed to include Burkina Faso - of fomenting the
unrest that has overtaken the country since the 1999 military takeover. Burkina
Faso denies any role in the latest uprising. (Compiled from wire reports)
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
26 September 2002- Mr Don McKinnon, Commonwealth Secretary-General, has
welcomed the progress made in the Sri Lanka peace process. During a meeting
with Milinda Moragoda, Minister of Economic Reforms and Science and Technology
of Sri Lanka in London on Tuesday, he reiterated his support for the ongoing
peace talks in Sri Lanka.
This was contained in
a release issued by the Communication and Public Affairs Division of the
Commonwealth Secretariat. It said the first round of peace talks between the
Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
concluded in Thailand last week with the Secretary-General expressing the hope
that the positive attitude maintained by both sides at the talks would result
in a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
"The
international community should do all it can to encourage the peace process in
Sri Lanka and accelerate development assistance aimed at the resettlement and
rehabilitation of internally displaced persons. The Commonwealth stands ready
to assist the Government and the people of Sri Lanka in contributing to the
peace-building effort," the release quoted Mr McKinnon as saying.
The Government of Sri
Lanka and the LTTE signed a peace agreement in February this year, facilitated
by the Government of Norway, the release said. It said the first direct talks
for the two sides since 1995 were held in September 2002, with subsequent rounds
scheduled for October and December, this year, and January 2003. Mr Moragoda is
the co-leader of the government team in peace talks.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 26 September 2002- Mr Frederick F. Anto, Ashanti Region Chairman of the
New Patriotic Party (NPP), has denied there was a smear campaign against the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Kumawu
bye-election.
"Planning a smear
campaign against an opponent is an indecorous way of conducting an
electioneering campaign and that will definitely not be one of the methods to
be used by the NPP of which I am the regional chairman", Mr Anto said in a
statement issued in Kumasi.
It was in reaction to
a statement by Mr Emmanuel Nti-Fordjour, Ashanti Region Chairman of NDC that
there was a smear campaign and deliberate lies being bandied in the Kumawu
constituency by the NPP to poison the minds of the electorates and ridicule the
NDC candidate.
It was alleged the NDC
candidate, Mr Richard Martin Osei, stole electric poles whilst serving as the
Presiding Member for the Sekyere East District Assembly. Mr Anto said what he
told the rally was that before the 2000 elections, the then government had
decided to extend electricity to Abotanso and Asekyerewa in the constituency
and 41 million cedis was released for the project.
He said Mr Martin Osei,
who at the time was the Presiding Member and Mrs Cecilia Johnson and Mr Kwame
Peprah, both ex-ministers of the NDC government, to divert the amount meant for
the purchase of the electric poles, prevailed upon other top hierarchy of the
Assembly.
Mr Anto said the
amount was used as NDC campaign funds, saying, this revelation was contained in
an Auditor-General's report on the financial administration of the Sekyere East
District Assembly, stressing "this is not anybody's cooked story."
He said the NPP believed
that the people should not vote for such persons who could not demonstrate any
commitment to his own people in a small way. "It would be a disaster to
entrust the hopes and aspirations of the people in the whole constituency into
the hands of such persons," the statement added.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kordiabe (Greater
Accra) 26 September 2002- The First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor has urged
traditional rulers to join the crusade against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With over
80 per cent of the population owing allegiance to traditional rulers "your
role as advocates and educators on the menace of the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot
be over emphasized," she said.
In a speech read on
her behalf at a workshop on STD/HIV/AIDS for person with disabilities at
Kordiabe, in the Dangme West District, Mrs Kufuor said traditional rulers
should join the crusade especially in the rural areas where their authority was
highly recognised.
The workshop under the
theme "The Challenges of the AIDS pandemic: The role of the disabled"
aimed at articulating the perceptions of persons with disabilities on
STD/HIV/AIDS, was organised by the Disabled Christian Fellowship International
(DCFI) in collaboration with the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC).
Mrs Kufuor called for
the active involvement of communities in the fight against HIV/AIDS since
"communities know their problems better and therefore their involvement at
all stages of the campaign and other initiatives is crucial for proper focus,
effective implementation and attainment of policy objectives".
The First Lady
stressed the need for a "more supportive social and policy
environment" for the implementation of HIV/AIDS interventions. Mr Ebenezer
K. Ampiah, a Business Executive called for the integration of HIV/AIDS
education in skill training for persons with disabilities.
Mr Francis Adjetey
Sowah, Executive Director of DCFI, expressed concern about the prevalence rate
among the disabled, which according to a GAC report stood at 20 persons daily.
Disabled persons, Assembly and Unit Committee members, Chiefs and Queen mothers
and a cross section of the public attended the workshop.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kordiabe (Greater
Accra) 26 September 2002- The Ghana AIDS Commission on Wednesday stated that
more than 80 percent of Ashanti Region sex workers (prostitutes) are HIV
positive. The Greater Accra Region sex workers recorded 78.5 percent, while
over 40,000 of the adult population in the Volta, Eastern and Western regions
are also in the infection bracket.
The Director General
of the Commission, Professor Sakyi A. Amoa said in a speech read on his behalf
by a Ugandan Technical Adviser on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Mr Bernad
Mwijiuka at the opening of a three-day workshop on STD/HIV/AIDS for persons
with disabilities at Kordiabe in the Dangme West District of Greater Accra.
The workshop, under
the theme: "The Challenges of the AIDS pandemic: The role of the
disabled," was aimed at articulating the perceptions of persons with
disabilities on STD/HIV/AIDS. Professor Amoa noted that the HIV/AIDS situation
in Africa and Ghana had assumed an alarming rate as the prevalence rate
continued to rise, with over 2/3 of the worlds infected people living in
Africa, (28.8 million out of 40 million).
He noted that current
statistics globally indicated that five million people were infected last year
while 15,000 new infections are being recorded daily this year. He said the
hardest hit countries on the continent are South Africa and Zimbabwe with 40 percent
infection rate and Botswana 35.8 percent, and Ghana 3.6 percent.
Prof. Amoa explained
that with the prevalence rate in the West African sub-region ranging between 5
to 11 percent, Ghana's rate could go up, "if we failed to adopt a more
proactive measures to combat the menace."
Citing situation in
Zambia where over 1,300 teachers died in ten months, the Central African
Republic, which closed down 107 schools due to staff shortages as a result of
HIV and Cote d' Ivoire, where the authorities have confirmed that seven out of
ten teachers die of AIDS, Prof. Amoa called for measures to avoid or minimize
the effects on society.
Prof. Amoa suggested a
faster positive behavioural change, by adopting measures to influence
social-cultural norms and practices to reduce the spread of infection and also
promote care for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
"This implies
that we must discourage the negative cultural norms, beliefs and practices in
our society and also reduce denial, stigmatization and discrimination against
persons infected and immediately affected by the virus.
Mr Francis Adjetey
Sowah, Executive Director of Disabled Christian Fellowship International,
organisers of the workshop urged government and civil society groups to provide
the appropriate counselling and information to equip the disabled on sex and
parentage.
He said, "We must
be fully informed about taking precautions against sexual and other forms of
abuse as a result of our vulnerability in the family, community and
institutions."
Mr Sowah debunked the
notion that physically challenged persons were inactive sexually, saying,
"we are agile, attractive, affectionate and possess a high sensitive
sexual ego...in fact our potency is so strong and challenging and we should be
recognised as such with vigour and vitality."
He, however, charged
the members to be extremely careful with sexual ego "as disability does
not mean we are immune to the HIV/AIDS pandemic." The disabled, assembly
and unit committee members from the Dangme West District Assembly, the Chiefs
and Queen mothers of Kordiabe and a cross section of society attended the
workshop.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Ho (Volta Region) 26
September 2002 - Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy General Secretary (Operations) of the
Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said that the Congress would continue to
pressurize the government to shelve its urban potable water production
programme.
Addressing a meeting
of the Executive Committee of the Volta Regional Council of Labour in Ho, Mr
Asamoah said the TUC was convinced that water, which was vital for survival,
should not be traded for money from whatever source.
He said government's
enthusiasm for the policy might be because of the 1.8 billion cedis, which
would be made available for the rehabilitation of the water systems if
privatised.
Mr Asamoah said often
people expressed views commending that policy line out of ignorance, saying
that the companies vying to produce water in Ghana did not have unblemished
testimonials and could only be chasing profits.
He wondered why only
urban water systems were going for bidding under the policy and not systems in
the rural areas where incomes were low. On incomes of workers, Mr Asamoah said
they remained low despite repeated and passionate statements on the issue by
President J.A Kufuor and called for action on the part of government.
He, however, urged
workers to increase production because, " a cake must be produced before
it can be shared". Regarding the proposed Labour School, Mr. Asamoah
explained that the idea did not envisage an institution in the physical sense,
but a programmed series of courses at various venues in the country, for Union
workers.
The meeting discussed
the TUC's exceptions to the Labour Bill, which would be passed into law when
Parliament returns from recess next month.
Mr Asamoah explained
that though the TUC collaborated in the process of drafting the Bill, over the
period from the past government till today, certain changes, emphasis and
variations had been noticed that were of concern to the labour organisation. Mr
Maxwell Akoto-Mireku Regional Secretary of the TUC said efforts were being made
to open more District Labour Offices in the region.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
26 September 2002- Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the Chief of Staff, on Wednesday warned
that indiscipline would threaten Ghana like the Biblical Sodom and
Gomorrah if concerted
actions are not taken to uproot the canker that had permeated all spheres of
the society.
"What is even
more dangerous is that there is a whole generation now that finds nothing wrong
with behaving unruly. If the older folks who know what a disciplined society we
inherited from our fathers was, do not restore law and order now, our society
would perish," he said.
Mr Mpiani said this
when he received a donation of 50 million cedis from the Ghana Commercial Bank
(GCB) Limited, towards the National Campaign For Greater Discipline, launched
by the Vice President last month.
As part of its social
responsibility programme, GCB also gave 50 million cedis to the National
Society of Friends of the Mentally Handicapped for its Northern School Project
and 30 million cedis to the Ghana Prisons Service to assist its project in
rabbit rearing.
Mr Mpiani called on
companies, religious and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to mount civic
education programmes to make people appreciate the importance of discipline and
the consequences of rowdiness.
"No society has
been able to develop with the kind of indiscipline that has engulfed this
nation," he said, adding that civic education, particularly on the respect
for law and order should be taught in schools and in communities.
Mr Mpiani said the
Campaign is not targeted at children and the youth alone, but also at those in
leadership positions in organizations and other entities. He criticised the
practice whereby people in responsible and high places pleaded or intervened on
behalf of their subordinates and relations who violated the law and said that
practice should stop. Mr Mpiani commended GCB for its sense of social
responsibility; saying that the mentality retarded and the prisoner should not
be abandoned by society.
Speaking to the Ghana
News Agency (GNA), Mr Andrews Awuni, a Special Assistant to the Vice President,
said Ghanaians should not underestimate the threat of indiscipline, adding that
the gradual resort to jungle justice to settle scores should be the concern of
all.
"The Campaign for
Greater Discipline is not just about preventing people from urinating around or
littering, but it is mostly to instill confidence in the Police, the Judiciary
and other structures that have been established to ensure sanity and
justice," he said.
He commended GCB,
which has promised a contributed 250 million cedis towards the Campaign over a
five-year period and appealed to other companies to assist. It is estimated
that the Campaign, which would use mass media advertisements, persuasion, law
enforcement and other programmes to encourage people to "Do the Right
Thing, would cost 2.5 billion cedis each year.
Mr Kwabena
Dapaah-Siakwan, Deputy Managing Director of GCB, who made the presentation,
said as a responsible corporate body, the company felt obliged to contribute
its quota to address some of the societal problems.
"We are aware of
what the problems in our society are and we have felt the need to put our
concern into financial action," he said. Mr Richard Kuuire,
Director-General of Prisons, said the Rabbit Project would give skills to
prisoners and enhance their reintegration into society when they were released.
The Chairman of the
Society of Friends of the handicapped, Andrew K. Tandoh said in the 34 years of
its existence, the society had built schools for the mentally retarded in all
the regions, except the northern sector. The donation, he said would,
therefore, support its 1.5 billion-cedis school project to be sited at Tamale.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
26 September 2002 – The Government was on Wednesday informed about the death of
Dr Amon Nikoi, former Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) at the Castle, Osu.
Nii Kotey Amli III, La
Klana Mantse, who led a six-member delegation of the bereaved family to inform
President John Agyekum Kufuor about the death, said the late Dr Nikoi, 72, died
on Thursday, 5 September.
He said burial service
would be held at the Ridge Church in Accra before the burial at the La Cemetary
on Saturday, 5 October. President Kufuor expressed condolences to the bereaved
family and said the late Dr Nikoi distinguished himself in nation building in
the economic sector.
He said Dr Nikoi also
served the nation with great distinction in the Foreign Service, the Central
Bank and as a Minister of State in the Third Republic. Mr Jake
Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, said Dr
Nikoi was a luminary, who was prepared to listen and talk to anyone despite his
position in life, adding, "he was someone who would allow deeds to speak
louder than words".
Miss Elizabeth Ohene,
Minister of State at the Presidency, said Dr Nikoi would be remembered for his
intellectual clarity on the business of finance and as a Governor by the
integrity he brought to his position because of his sound knowledge in that
sector.
Mrs Grace Coleman,
Deputy Minister of Finance, said the expertise of Dr Nikoi was still being
enjoyed by the Central Bank even after his absence She commended Dr Nikoi for
his humility and dedication to duty at the Ministry of Finance, which has
benefited and continued to benefit the ministry.
Mr Emmanuel
Asiedu-Mante, Acting Governor of the Central Bank said Dr Nikoi brought a new
dimension into the operations of the bank during his tenure of office, saying,
"the central bank in a developing country, should concentrate more on
developmental banking than the normal banking practices in developed
countries".
Mr Asiedu-Mante said
it was through the ingenuity of Dr Nikoi that Rural Banking was introduced in
the country and continued to flourish as well as innovation in the agricultural
and housing sectors.
The late Dr Nikoi, was
born on 19th January 1930 at La, Accra. He had Bsc in Economics at the Amherst
College in USA in 1953, a Fellow of Harvard University, USA 1953-55 and
honorary M.A. Amherst in 1963.
Between 1957-1960, he
joined the Ghana Foreign Service and was posted to the Ghana Embassy in
Washington to become the Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United
Nations (UN). From 1960-1966, Dr Nikoi was made the Alternate Executive
Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and between 1966-1968 became
the Executive Director of the IMF.
Dr Nikoi was appointed
Senior Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Finance between 6
January1969-February 1973. On 1 March 1973, he was appointed Governor and
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ghana, within the same period
was the Chairman of Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) and Chairman, Grains
Warehousing Company.
He was retired in 1977
as the Governor of the Central Bank by the National Redemption Council (NRC)
under the late General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. During the Third Republic
under Dr Hilla Limann and the People's National Party (PNP), Dr Nikoi was
appointed Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. He left behind a widow,
Mrs Gloria Amon-Nikoi, three children and two grand children.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 26 September 2002 - The National House of Chiefs have reiterated its
opposition to the 60 percent deductions that the Forestry Commission takes from
the royalties paid in respect of the exploitation of timber on their lands.
At its general meeting
in Kumasi, Odeneho Gyapong Ababio II, the President, warned that the
"Standing Committee have decided that we shall vehemently protest against
the unconstitutional 60 percent deductions that the Forestry Commission takes
from the royalties paid in respect of the exploitation of timber".
"The suggestion
put up by the government through the Minister of Lands and Forestry is not
acceptable to us", he stressed. Odeneho Gyapong Ababio said the House had
mandated its sub-committee on land to develop a comprehensive document of the
views of the House to be presented to the government for action.
On the call by the
President to the House to help adopt a uniformed Land Tenure System, Odeneho
Gyapong Ababio said Nananom would take up the challenge to discuss and examine
the possibilities of fashioning a uniform land tenure system for the country.
A delegation from the
Upper Dixcove Traditional Area was in the House to inform the chiefs of the
final funeral rites of Nana Hema Dakyi the thirteenth, the only female
paramount chief in the country who died at the age of 97. She would be buried
on 2 November 2002.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
26 September 2002 - Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, Justice of the Court
of Appeal has advocated for the infusing of an Alternative
Dispute Resolution
into the justice system for speedy disposal of cases and decongestion of cases
at the law courts.
She said the
establishment of the ADR would allow for mediation, evaluation and arbitration
of cases and make judges more free to handle more complex cases, thereby
decongesting the courts.
Mrs. Justice Wood said
this when she appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament as the
third of the nominees of the President for appointments as Justices of the
Supreme Court of Ghana.
She said the National
Media Commission should be strengthened and giving the power to make Editors
retract stories that defames others and it should have the power to impose
fines or suspend members who defame others.
Mr. Victor Gbeho asked
her about her opinion about the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, to which she
said it was important that all are sensitive to the needs of the society and
advised journalists to become responsible and matured and seek the right
channels to address libel cases.
The other nominees are
Mr Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey, Mr Justice Glenn Baddoo, all Justices of the
Court of Appeal, Prof. Samuel Kofi Date-Bah, Special Adviser (Legal)
Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr. Seth Twum, Private Legal Practitioner and Mr.
Joshua Magnus Nicol, Administrator of the District Assembly's Common Fund.
Mr Mohammed Mumuni, a
member asked what measures were to be used to decongest the courts and Mrs
Justice Wood said the introduction of the ADR would compliment the handling of
litigation cases, expedite delivery of justice, help reduce corruption in the
judiciary and sensitize the society on the various aspects of the law.
Mr. Freddie Blay,
Chairman of the Appointments Committee had earlier commended the nominee for
her meritorious rise to the Court of Appeal and nomination as Justice of the
Supreme Court.
Mrs. Justice Wood said
criminalizing speech could stifle speech and so it was good that the Criminal
Libel Law was repealed and suggested that structures are put in place to ensure
access to justice.
Mr. Kwakye Addo a
member asked the nominee how her experience would come to bear on the Supreme
Court and Mrs. Wood said it would be exactly as she was doing for the past 28
years when she started as a Magistrate and served on the Bench, adding that the
position calls for integrity, humility and willingness to learn from other
jurisdictions.
On the issue of the
abolition of the community tribunals, she said it was necessary to maintain,
especially the Regional Tribunals to handle more serious cases such as
embezzlement of state funds, fraud and robbery with the support of a jury.
Mrs Justice Wood also
said it was time for the Police Service to establish a firmly based legal
directorate to prepare their own prosecution instead of always relying on the
Attorney-General's Department for prosecution.
Capt. Nkrabeah
Effah-Dartey asked whether it was better to promote a judge from the lower
ranks to the Supreme Court or elevate those at the upper echelons and Mrs
Justice Wood said in terms of experience there were a few experienced ones on
the Bench, who could be considered and elevated while those who have worked
assiduously could also be considered.
Mrs. Justice Wood said
it was necessary to set up zonal offices of the Courts of Appeal to reduce the
ordeal people from all parts of the country face in coming to Accra because of
appeal cases.
She said Ghana has
done well in appointing female judges to high positions and said when she was
appointed she would ensure that she encourages and advice more females to opt
for the legal profession.
Mrs Edith Hazel, a
member asked whether there should be stiffer punishment for defilement cases,
Mrs Justice Wood said she would not advocate for it since the 25 years sentence
for defilement was enough punishment, adding that she did not believe in the
death penalty.
On corruption in the
judiciary, Mrs. Justice Wood said there should be a collective approach, but
called on the judiciary to take the lead by setting up internal structures to
investigate and punish corrupt officials, noting that effective leadership and
improvement in the national economy and remuneration would reduce the perceived
corruption in the judiciary.
Prof. Date-Bah said it
was the desire of many lawyers to aspire to rise to the Supreme Court and with
his diverse experience he felt it was necessary that the Supreme Court had
members with diverse skills to give informed judgement.
Mr John Setuni
Achuliwor asked what measures could be taken to reduce the perceived corruption
and backlog of cases at the courts and Professor Date-Bah said the alternative
dispute resolution was worth considering while there should be expedited
judiciary process, more judges and better funding.
Most of the members of
the Appointments Committee who turned out to have been students of the nominee
were so enthused about his Curriculum Vitae which included assisting to
establish the Stock Exchange in Ghana, participation in the World Trade
Organisation Privatisation Conference and Trans-national Investment Agreements.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com