Sixty (60) district courts, sixty (60) bungalows for judges, and three (3) new high courts for three (3) of the six (6) newly constituted regions will be put into operation by the start of the legal year in October, according to President of the Republic Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo claims that the government has chosen to address the issue of insufficient courts in various regions of the nation, which forces individuals to travel great distances to access courts.
The President said that the government is building one hundred (100) new courts and bungalows for judges in all sixteen (16) Regions of the nation while speaking at the swearing-in of ten (10) new High Court Judges on Monday, July 18, 2022, at Jubilee House.
Twenty (20) courts and twenty (20) bungalows are located in Ashanti; twelve (12) courts and twelve (12) bungalows are located in Eastern; eight (8), eight (8), and eight (8), respectively, are located in Greater Accra; eight (8), eight(8), and eight(8), respectively, are located in Volta; eight(8), and eight(8), respectively, are located in Ahafo; seven(7), seven(7), and seven(7) are located in Western; and five(5), five(5), are located in Bono East
The remaining properties include two (2) courts and two (2) bungalows in Upper East, three (3) courts and three (3) bungalows in Northern, three (3) courts and three (3) bungalows in Savannah, four (4) courts and four (4) bungalows in Central, four (4) courts and four (4) bungalows in Bono, and five (5) courts and five (5) bungalows each in North East, Oti, Western North, and Bono.
“Sixty percent (60%) of these courts and bungalows have been completed, and will be commissioned before the start of the legal year in October. The remaining forty percent (40%) will be duly completed and commissioned by the end of the first quarter of 2023,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He added, “Six new Regional High Courts are also being constructed in the newly created regions, i.e., Ahafo, Bono East, North East, Oti, Savannah and Western North. Three of the Courts, that is those in Ahafo, Bono East and Oti Regions, will be completed and ready for commissioning, again, before October. The other three, that is those in North East, Savannah and Western North, which are at eighty percent (80%) completion, will be ready for commissioning by the end of the first quarter of 2023.”
You may also recall that in April of last year, the President turned the first sod for the construction of a brand-new, state-of-the-art Court of Appeal complex in Kumasi, along with twenty (20) townhouses and a guesthouse that will serve as permanent residences for the Court of Appeal Judges based there and assigned to hear appeals from the country’s north.
They will be finished and put into service in September, according to President Akufo-Addo, who also said that all judges on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, High Courts, and Lower Courts received 210 vehicles earlier this year.
The President emphasized that each of them is a government initiative aimed at enhancing the judiciary’s capabilities.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com