Tema courts remain in deplorable state
Ten months after the Chief Justice, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, tasked the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to improve court infrastructure in the metropolis, the situation remains the same.
A visit by The Mirror to the TDC Magistrate Court, the Circuit Court A and B, as well as the Community Centre District Court last Monday revealed that furniture in the three court rooms were in a state of dilapidation.
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The upholstery on the chairs and pews for both lawyers and the public were all worn out in the three courts visited.
Danger
The TDC Magistrate Court, for example, operates from what looks like a pavilion with a dwarf wall constructed round it, exposing the magistrate, police prosecutors, lawyers and other court workers to danger.
Apart from the decrepit furniture, the ceiling fans looked corroded while parts of the ceiling had peeled off.
The situation at the Court A and B is no better. Parts of the precincts of the two courts is water logged leading to the growth of algae that gives off a pungent smell.
The cement floors of the two circuit court rooms have also developed cracks.
CJ’s concerns
Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo during a working visit to the courts in Tema in March 2018 called on the TMA to upgrade the infrastructure of the lower courts in order to improve the services of the judiciary.
"My objective is that the lower courts should operate like a 21st century court where judges and magistrates and other stakeholders work in a comfortable environment because the people of Ghana deserve the best," she said.
Some of the court workers, who spoke to this reporter, but will not go on record bemoaned the poor working environment they operate in and called on the TMA to rectify the situation.
When the Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tema, Mr Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La, was contacted, he said as part of the preparation works, the assembly had carried out some preliminary works to prepare quantities and the necessary costing required.
He said he was optimistic that works would soon begin to upgrade the court infrastructure to enhance justice delivery.
According to him, the long term objective of the assembly was to mobilise resources to complete a proposed court complex for Tema located near the former Meridian Hotel enclave.
The court complex project, which commenced over two decades ago, had been abandoned with parts of the land gradually being encroached on by private developers.