Residential complex for Appeal Court judges inaugurated in Kumasi
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inaugurated a 20-unit residential complex for Justices of the Court of Appeal in Kumasi.
Located at Danyame, each of the 20 fully furnished houses consists of four bedrooms and a two-bedroom outhouse.
Other amenities on the seven-acre complex include a seven-bedroom guest house, a clubhouse, a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a tennis court.
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The project also includes two apartment blocks made up of six three-bedroom residential units for other staff of the judicial service.
The 20 town houses, located in a gated community, will be occupied by Justices of the Court of Appeal serving the Northern sector of the country — Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah, North East, Upper East, Northern and Upper West regions.
The project, which began in April last year, was fully-funded by the government through the District Assemblies Common Fund.
Justice delivery
Inaugurating the project as part of his tour of the Ashanti Region, President Akufo-Addo said the housing complex was part of efforts by the government to bring justice delivery closer to the people.
He said the housing project in Kumasi would stop the practice where Justices of the Court of Appeal had to travel from Accra to Kumasi to sit on appeal cases.
The government, he said, was currently constructing 120 courts and 150 bungalows for judges and judicial staff throughout the country to reduce the infrastructure challenges facing the judiciary, with 70 per cent of those projects completed.
“I am hopeful that this massive infrastructure development will motivate the judiciary to work harder and promote the rule of law in the country,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo lauded the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, for his commitment to ensure the smooth completion of the project, which was executed within the 18-month stipulated time frame.
The Chief Justice, he said, visited the project site constantly to ensure that the contractors delivered on time.
Inauguration
The inauguration was attended by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who provided seven acres of land at no cost to government for the project.
Also in attendance was the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah; the immediate past Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo; the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame; the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah; ministers of state and Justices of the superior courts.
Others were the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu; the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and the members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Judiciary and Local Governance.
Highest standard
The Chief Justice said the judiciary had worked hard over the years to improve the legal framework in which it operated in order to uphold the highest standards in justice delivery.
However, he said, the deplorable nature of some court premises and the lack of residence for judges had been a challenge to effective justice delivery.
He said the housing project was good news for the judiciary as it ensured that judges could be deployed to other parts of the country where they were needed for efficient justice delivery.
He said other similar projects would be undertaken in other regional capitals to ensure effective justice delivery.
History
Giving a background to the project, the Attorney-General said in 2008, the then government constructed the Court of Appeal complex in Kumasi to ensure that Justices of the Court of Appeal could hear and determine cases in other parts of the country besides Accra.
Unfortunately, he said, the move was severely hampered due to the lack of accommodation for the judges in Kumasi.
“In the circumstances, sitting was reduced to one week in a month, a situation that had prevailed to date,” he said.
According to him, the new housing complex meant that the Justices of the Court of Appeal would be permanently based in Kumasi and could deliver justice without having to commute all the way from Accra.
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