Assembly inaugurates Magistrate’s Court

The Awutu Senya East Municipal Assembly in the Central Region has inaugurated a new District Magistrate’s Court at Kasoa to help in the adjudication of civil and criminal cases in the municipality.

It would temporarily operate in an auditorium within the assembly building until the official court complex to house both the circuit and magistrate’s courts, which is under construction at Awutu Ofaakor, is completed by September this year.

The absence of a court in the municipality has compelled the police and aggrieved individuals to seek justice at the Awutu Beraku, Winneba and Agona Swedru courts.

Inaugural address

A High Court Judge, Mr Justice Bright Mensah, who represented the Chief Justice at the inaugural ceremony, said an efficient and viable judiciary was one of the key prerequisites of any thriving democracy.

According to him, the 1992 Constitution mandated the Judicial Service not only to administer justice, but see to it that justice was not just done but seen to be done.

He stated that a number of factors had militated against the effective operations of courts and administration of justice, citing severe lack of court houses, the deplorable state of physical infrastructure housing some of the existing courts and obsolete equipment and technology being used at the various courts, among others.

Reforms

He explained that to address the situation and pressing challenges confronting the service, the Chief Justice had instituted corrective measures by embarking on major reforms and modernisation programmes to improve efficiency and enrich the adjudication of justice.

He added that over the years, the service had initiated and implemented innovative mechanisms as part of the reform agenda to employ world acceptable best practices to bring justice delivery on a par with current international standards.

Mr Justice Mensah advised the staff of the court to exhibit a high level of professionalism in the discharge of their duties, maintain the good image of the service and avoid conducting themselves in a manner that would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

Municipal Chief Executive

The Awutu Senya East Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Adams Nuhu, said Kasoa was very much noted as one of the areas in the region where criminal activities were on the increase on a daily basis.

According to him, it was an undeniable fact that the major sources of civil litigation were commercial, land and property disputes, for which Kasoa was gaining notoriety.

He indicated that with the establishment of the court, the assembly would prosecute recalcitrant developers, and rate and fee defaulters in order to increase the internally generated funds of the assembly.