Chief Justice condems ethnicity in Ghanaian politics

Accra, Jan. 5, GNA - Mrs. Justice Theodora Georgina Wood, Chief Justice, on Monday condemned ethnicity in Ghanaian politics, saying that the phenomenon could create dangerous repercussions for Ghanaian society. She said what was required was the collective responsibility of all and sundry to sustain democratic governance in the country.

"We should ensure that poverty, illiteracy, youth unemployment, poor environmental sanitation and the general feeling of insecurity are eliminated from the society," Mrs. Wood added.

Mrs. Wood was delivering the keynote address at the 61st Annual New Year School in Accra.

It has as its theme, "Sustaining Democratic Governance in Ghana: Issues Before the Nation," and aims at creating a platform for diverse views and suggestions to improve national issues.

She said without unity and co-operation among Ghanaians the vision of attaining socio-economic development would be elusive, adding "unless we see tolerance and inclusiveness as critical elements of multi-party democracy, we could ruin the fragile unity of the country and constitutional governance".

Mrs. Justice Wood said despite successes in Presidential and Parliamentary elections since 1992, the country had constantly been confronted with serious challenges which had the tendency to create fear, uncertainty and apprehension during other elections. She said though the nation's successes had received international commendations, Ghanaians should not be complacent but must strive to sustain the process.

Mrs. Justice Wood expressed concern about the proliferation of small arms, climate change, drug trafficking, managing revenue from the oil find, failure to prioritise human rights issues and corruption. She said good governance through the equitable distribution of resources to develop strong institutions to check the abuse of power and misuse of state resources was ideal and should be pursued. Mrs. Justice Wood called for more assistance for Parliament, the Legal Aid Board, Ghana Police Service, National Media Commission and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to operate effectively.

She commended the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for the preparation of the Presidential Transitional Bill and called on Parliament to study and deliberate on it in an utmost objective and non-partisan manner to ensure its enactment before Election 2012. 5 Jan. 10