Winneba court gets solar power system

A solar power system built for the Winneba High Court, to assure it of uninterrupted power supply has been inaugurated by the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo.

It cost 39,000 Australian dollars to complete and the funding came from the Australian High Commission in Ghana under its “District Aid Programme”.

The Winneba project is the first of the three, piloted in three selected courts, to be ready.

Chief Justice Akuffo said energy efficiency would allow for the seamless operation of the courts in their automation strategy.

The inauguration marked the start of a reform agenda to address the challenges they had been having with the national electricity grid.

She said, while they were working to improve the legal and the constitutional framework within which they operated, enforcement of the highest standards of integrity, they also had to deal with the infrastructure and the operations in the courts.

The installation of solar energy was going to facilitate efficiency in court proceedings - full and reliable recording and storage of the proceedings.

The successes of the ‘solarisation project’ would bring massive benefits to the courts, the judicial service, businesses, individuals and the nation as a whole.

The use of solar power was a sustainable, environmentally-friendly way to deal with the nation’s power needs, she added

Chief Justice Akuffo called for the Central Regional Coordinating Council, the Effutu Municipal Assembly, chiefs and people to collectively own project and reminded the court officials to treasure what they had been given.

She said the Judicial Service was grateful to the Government and people of Australia for the support.

Mr. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Member of Parliament (MP) appealed for the establishment of a Circuit Court in the municipality.

There is a High Court and a Magistrate Court there and he said the absence of a Circuit Court had been a missing link.

That needed to be tackled to make justice accessible to the people – end the situation where they had to travel outside the municipality to seek justice.

Mr. Lawrence Apaalse, acting Chief Director of the Energy Ministry, applauded the Judicial Service for being at the forefront in the implementation of reforms to improve public service delivery.