By Joyce Danso, GNA
Accra, Dec. 5, GNA – The Judicial Service Co-operative Fund (JUSCOFund) is projecting profit growth of more than 200 per cent in 2025, Mr Samuel Afotey Otu, National President of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), has said.
Speaking at the Fund’s maiden Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Law Court Complex in Accra on Thursday, Mr Otu said the JUSCOFund recorded profits in 2024 and grown its asset base to over GH¢4 million.
The AGM also saw the launch of the Judicial City Estates Initiative, which will allow staff to acquire a plot of land at GH¢35,000 per plot.
He noted that the fund had expanded significantly, moving from fewer than 100 members to more than 1,200 in under three years.
“This performance is a testament to sound management, strict adherence to prudent financial practices, and the trust staff have placed in this initiative. One of the pillars of JUSCOFund’s success is its inclusivity,” he said.
Mr Otu said the fund was opened to all categories of staff of the Judicial Service; junior officers, senior officers, directors, magistrates, and judges.
It is also open to allied justice-sector institutions such as the Attorney-General’s Department, Legal Aid Commission, CHRAJ, Council for Law Reporting, EOCO, Rent Control, and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, among others.
“This broad membership base reinforces our vision of building a united Justice Sector financial ecosystem,” he added.
As part of measures to secure long-term financial stability for staff, leadership has approved a major policy intervention that will begin in January 2026.
Under the new policy, a fraction of every member’s JUSAG dues will be saved into their individual JUSCOFund accounts with interest.
“When a member retires, the accumulated amount, together with interest, will be paid as an End of Membership Benefit (EOMB),” Mr Out said.
“This policy will ensure that every member of JUSAG, regardless of grade or station, retires with something meaningful to support the next phase of life.”
Mr Otu said JUSAG continued to pursue complementary welfare programmes and was working to operationalise the three-tier pension structure for the service.
He noted that the Judicial Service Occupational Pension Scheme (Tier 2) had become one of the most stable and well-managed in the public sector, with retirees receiving respectable lump-sum benefits that restored dignity at the end of service.
He identified housing as one of the most pressing challenges facing staff.
Government housing schemes, though well-intended, he said, had often been unaffordable for ordinary workers.
“It is for this reason that JUSAG introduced the Judicial City Estates Initiative, an ambitious, legally protected, trust-driven housing programme aimed at enabling every member to own land and eventually build a home.”
He said leadership had already acquired more than 2,000 plots of land at Shai Osudoku for the project.
Mr Otu added that the Judicial Service, in collaboration with JUSCOFund, was working with commercial banks, engineering firms, and government agencies to deliver the initiative.
The JUSCOFund was also offering an auto loan scheme, he said, but noted that the cost of vehicles remained prohibitive.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to grant duty exemptions for Judicial Service staff who purchased vehicles under the JUSCODrive Plan.
The JUSAG President expressed satisfaction that the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 141 on the Judicial Service (Terms and Conditions of Service) Regulations, 2025, had now matured into law.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe