Bongo (UE), March 12, GNA – The Bongo District Assembly in the Upper East Region has renovated and handed over the district court to the Judiciary, to promote smooth and effective justice delivery.
The renovation works, which included; the creation of offices within the court, provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities among others is the second time the district court received maintenance works after its establishment in 1999 with the first facelift was in 2015.
Speaking at a brief ceremony to commission the renovated structure, Mr Peter Ayamga Ayinbisa, the Chief Executive for the area, said the court had over the years played critical roles in maintaining peace in the district and needed to be refurbished as it was in a dilapidated state and hindered effective judiciary system.
He explained that the steps taken by the Assembly to rehabilitate the court was in response to a petition a citizen of the district wrote to the Chief Justice in 2018, which nearly led to the closure of the court.
“Before the current state, this court building did not have offices within it, the washrooms were not useable, as water did not flow into the facility, the ceiling had almost fallen in, the plaster on the walls had peeled off,” he said.
While pledging the Assembly’s support to the court to resolve some of their challenges and regularly maintain the building, Mr Ayinbisa indicated that the renovated court would propel effective justice delivery and promote peaceful accelerated development.
He said, “I wish to acknowledge the cooperation and innovation of the staff of the Judicial Service, because while the renovation works were on, they did not stop their services, but rather found some ingenious means to still provide services here in Bongo.”
In a speech read on her behalf, Madam Tangoba Abayage, the Upper East Regional Minister, commended the Bongo District for contributing to promote justice delivery in the area and urged the judiciary system to replicate the gesture by speedily adjudicating cases brought before it.
She said the judiciary system of the country was an effective and crucial arm of governance in achieving socio-economic progress and therefore appealed to the various courts to resolve all outstanding cases at the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General offices.
She called on the staff of the judiciary services to automate all the courts in the region, embrace the reforms in the sector to boost public confidence in the legal system and urged Ghanaians to employ the courts to resolve their differences, adding “we cannot approve rule of law and disapprove of its principles.”
Commissioning the refurbished court on behalf of Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, the Chief Justice, Justice Jacob Boon, the Regional Supervising High Court Judge, applauded the Assembly for committing scarce resources amidst demanding challenges to make the court conducive for effective justice dispensation.
The Supervising High Court Judge indicated that the facility would allow the court to effectively deliver on its mandate especially in the era of decentralisation and appealed to the Assembly to consider providing decent accommodation for the magistrate and staff of the court.
Justice Boon advised the public, especially families, to use the Alternative Dispute Resolution method to resolve minor cases, to avoid the expensive and time consuming court process.
GNA