Justice Henry Kwofie, the President of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG), has said that delays in the release of allowances due to them are negatively affecting Justice delivery.
He said “The question of the financial situation of the Judiciary, judges and magistrates appear to be top on the priority of judges and magistrates across the country. There have been serious discussions among us, particularly, this year, about serious delays in the payment of various allowances of judges and magistrates not only this year, but over the years”.
Justice Henry Kwofie said said this at the annual general meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) at the Labadi Beach Hotel on Wednesday, 27 September 2023, under the theme; A Financially Independent and Accountable Judiciary: The Key to Effective Justice Delivery”.
AMJG president added that several meetings of the national executives on one side and also the national board, there was near unanimity that the issue of delayed payment of allowances such as for fuel, leave, medical allowances, book allowances, these issues and the delays was clearly seen as a hinderance to the effective delivery of justice.
He called on government to take immediate steps to address the short falls in the budget of the third arm of government (Judiciary) which is largely responsible in the view of magistrates and judges, for the delay in the payments.
The AMJG also called on government to consider allowing the Judicial Service to retain up to 65% of her internally generated funds (IGF) as compared to the current 30% the service is allowed to retain. Allowing the service to retain the proposed percentage the association believes, would help addressing the spending and budgetary gaps that the Judicial Service is currently faced with.
Source:Mybrytfmonline/Mensah Atakora
