Judges in the country are demanding a review of their remunerations and conditions of service.
Supreme Court judge, William Atuguba, who spoke on behalf of the Judges at the Annual General Meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana today [Wednesday], demanded that judges be given what he called an enhanced leave allowance as well as entertainment allowance, among others, to compensate for their efforts at ensuring justice in the country.
According to him, considering the important role judges play in the country, such a move will significantly curb the issue of corruption in the judiciary.
“The sheer volume of litigation, the legal issues involved in almost every case and the range of research this entails are probably unknown to the public. Working under such conditions is particularly structured against a background of poor remuneration and other working conditions… and I am glad to note that, the bench in recent times has become more proactive in seeking this legitimate welfare and engaging the executive on these issues such as delayed payments of our few entitlements.”
“We call on the bar, the judicial council and the bench to coordinate their efforts and engage the Article 71 committees and other relevant authorities to press for recognition of and response to the fact that the bench has a unique and pivotal role to play in this country and its conditions of service must correspondingly be unique and should not be considered in common with any generalized policy on pay structure. In this connection, I call for legislation of an enhanced leave allowance, substantial entertainment allowance, handsome allowance to compensate for loss of private professional practice as it is enjoyed by doctors, teachers and others.”
Lower court judges threaten strike over salary increment
These demands come days after over one hundred and fifty lower court judges threatened to abandon the court if their demands for a ten percent salary increase are not adhered to.
A letter from the Chief of Staff seen by Citi News some months ago, approved the demands of the judges. But the judges indicated that, government had failed to pay their monies months after the approval.
Sources within the association told Citi News they arrived at the decision after several failed attempts to get the Finance Ministry to pay them their monies.
Lower court judges angry over salary slash
In June 2016, lower court judges issued a stern warning to government to immediately abandon a planned move to revise their conditions of service.
The judges who work in the magistrate and circuit courts across the country, said they were being short-changed with the proposal presented to them for a review of their salaries.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, His Honor Aboagye Tandor, said they will advise themselves if nothing is done about their concerns.
“Certain reforms have been done with regards to our salaries without any views or recourse to us. No inputs were made to us and we saw that there were some discrepancies so our members were of the view that the purported letter that was brought should be withdrawn.We were surprised that as members of the lower bench we would have conditions reviewed even before we are notified. You cannot review that recourse, it should be withdrawn…”
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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