Redeem Image of Judiciary Service -CJ

THE Chief Justice, Mr Justice E. K. Wiredu, has charged the staff of the Judicial Service to work hard to redeem the image of the service. He said ?the service is currently under the microscope and is carrying the tag as very corrupt and sometimes the impression created is that there is no one who is righteous in the Judicial Service?.

Mr Justice Wiredu made the call at the handing over and swearing-in ceremony of the national officers of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) in Accra at the weekend.

He urged the officers to join hands with management to weed out corruption and apathy in the service and instil discipline in all the members of staff. ?Once you are not protecting the wrong doers in our society in the name of solidarity, you will enjoy maximum co-operation from me and all officers under my administration,? he added.

Mr Justice Wiredu noted that recently the service has come under a barrage of criticisms for all sorts of corrupt practices due to the nefarious activities of some staff of the service.

He, therefore, urged the association to develop effective and efficient strategies to help ?eradicate and weed out the undesirable elements in our midst and to educate your members to be honest and dedicated?. He noted that the executive of the association, at a meeting with him, raised a number of issues concerning the staff welfare and assured them of the readiness of his office to collaborate with them to improve upon their working environment.

The Chief Justice announced that a committee is working on their conditions of service and will soon come out with its report, which should provide guidelines for improving the conditions of service of the staff and urged them to consider submitting proposals to the committee.

He called on the executive to explore the possibility of investing in housing to alleviate accommodation problems facing the staff and also help renovate the courts.

The national president of the JUSAG, Mr S B Issaka, said the new executive is taking office at a crucial time in the life of the service when its image is being dragged in the mud and pledged to work relentlessly to redeem the image. He said although the challenges are enormous, ?we are proposing to establish a task force, not to witch hunt anyone, but to educate our members and to motivate them to do their best without any influence?.

He appealed to the chief justice to use his good offices to improve the conditions of service and the working environment.

He identified such problem as low salary levels, and called on government ?to extend the showers of blessings under the positive change to the Judicial Service, adding that ?the Price Waterhouse report, which was to alleviate our poverty, has made some of our members poorer?.

Mr Issaka commended the out going officers for their dedication and commitment which have culminated in the vibrancy of the association.