Judiciary needs adequate resources to perform without fear or favour - Otumfuo

Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has urged the government to properly resource the Judiciary to enable it to deliver on its constitutional mandate.

In a keynote address at the annual Leadership Lecture Series at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), the king of the Ashanti people said all Ghanaians have reason to be proud of the Judiciary.

“We are proud of its heritage and the phenomenal wisdom and knowledge that flow from the benches. But we are also conscious of the challenges and the occasional glitches which dampen many spirits. What we cannot ignore once again is the environment in which they operate,” he said.

He added: “A judiciary constrained by resources cannot exercise its duties without fear or favour.”

He said it should be in the interest of the state to critically consider how it the judiciary can be financially independent to give meaning to the notion of judicial autonomy.

“I do not see why the Judiciary cannot be allowed to retain the bulk of the revenue accrued by the courts,” he said.

The lecture on the theme: "Leadership: Strengthen Democratic Institutions for National Development," was attended by high-profile personalities such as former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Nana Otuo Siriboe, Omanhene of the Juabeng Traditional Area and Chairman of the Council of State, and Nana Opoku Ampomah, a traditional ruler and Founder of the UPSA.

The Leadership Lecture was instituted to strengthen the stature of the University as it strives to improve on scholarship, research and professionalism.

Professor Abednego Feehi Okoe Amartey, the Vice-Chancellor of the UPSA, expressed gratitude to Nana Opoku Ampomah for graciously offering them a 35-acre land at Amanfo, near Bekwai, for the construction of another UPSA Campus.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com