Fast Track court for armed robbers soon

The Chief Justice is to establish a Fast Track Court to try armed robbery cases at the next sitting of the Criminal Assizes in Accra this year, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nana Akufo-Addo has announced.

He said Fast Track Courts would be established in all the regions as part of measures to speed up cases to promote confidence in the judicial system.

Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a symposium organised by the Koforidua Polytechnic Chapter of the Tertiary Education Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the NPP on Saturday on the theme: "Does the NPP government believe in the Rule of Law?"

He said the repeal of the criminal libel and sedition laws and the supply of vehicles to the Police were part of measures to promote the rule of law and to strengthen security in the country, adding "the Ghanaian media now is the freest in the world".

The Attorney General noted that the Yendi crisis exposed the neglect of the security services, saying, the non-functioning of a MOWAG battery at a crucial time made it impossible for the army to abate the situation on time and said the situation was being addressed.

He said NPP was rebuilding the country based on the principle of the rule of law, adding, "everything we are doing is open to the people and that is why we did not hide the TOR (Tema Oil Refinery) debt of 3.4 trillion cedis from the people".

On the increase in petroleum prices, Nana Akufo-Addo explained that the government had to take the bold decision in order not to compromise on the future of the people, saying, "we are sticking to it because we know the majority of the people will support us".

According to him, out of the total vehicle population of 500,000, 62 per cent were privately owned and said it was not justified for the people to subsidise fuel for the comfort of the few.