Judges need entertainment and leave allowance - Justice Atuguba

Supreme Court Judge, Justice William Atuguba has called for a different and unique salary structure for the country’s judges and magistrates to prevent them from falling victims to bribery and corruption.

Addressing the annual magistrates and judges’ conference at the La Beach Hotel in Accra, Wednesday, September 28, Justice Atuguba said judges should be given a special remuneration system which would be different from all existing salary systems in Ghana.

“I 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 of 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 or the like.

“In this connection I call for the restoration of an enhanced leave allowance, substantial entertainment allowance, a handsome allowance for the loss of private professional practice as it is enjoyed by Doctors, Teachers and others,” Justice Atuguba stated.

The respected Supreme Court Judge, has admonished judges and magistrates in the country to live a secluded life from the general public.

According to him, staying away from the public will help members of the bench from being easily accessed by persons with the aim of bribing them adding that it will also help the judges stay away from corruption.

He added that it is better for a judge to wrongly perceived as anti-social than to be rightly known as corrupt.