My favorite radio station in New York is WBAI-FM and they affectionately refer to Brooklyn as ?The Peoples Republic Of Brooklyn?. I have adapted that name to the Bronx as well. A couple of months ago, as I made a legal left turn to a street, in the Peoples Republic of the Bronx, I was stopped by a cop who had been waiting at the corner trying to fulfill his monthly quota of writing tickets to motorists who made the turn between 7am and 10 am. It is illegal to make a left turn at that time but I knew I was right because it was way past 10 am and I respectfully told the policeman that it was past ten. I don?t know what he had been sniffing prior to that. He said I was not allowed to turn before 11 am. He checked my license on his mobile computer in his squad car came back and said, ?Oh! You have no violations, so just answer to the ticket?, expecting me to mail out the fine.
So the following day, I brought my pinhole camera and took pictures of the intersection and all the signs that are glaring enough to prove me right. I mailed it to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) in our capital Albany for a dismissal. But as the law stands, I have to appear in court to face a judge and the police officer. I have the option of hiring an attorney or represent myself in court on that day. I know I will definitely win my case without a lawyer. The policeman will realize his mistake and won?t show up in court. I have been through this before. On the first date, the judge will postpone the case, but on the second date if he does not show up, the judge will rule in my favor and dismiss the case. What I hate about this is the time that I will waste just going to court for the cop to be absent.
My God!! What is happening in our courts in Ghana for a case to drag on for fifteen good years? Just take the Michael Jackson case as an example. It took sixteen weeks to end the trial. There was a time that he had to show up in his pajamas because he could not absent himself from court although he claimed to be sick.
Last week as I watched BBC News, they made the comparison between Ghana and Malaysia and mentioned the palm oil industry. While the Malaysians obtained the fruit from Ghana and have developed into the largest producer and exporter in the world, Ghana has been an importer of palm oil. One of the reasons for our inability to produce enough is lack of access to land for commercial cultivation. We are all familiar with litigation in our courts. Can you believe whopping 167,000 cases of land disputes in our courts? Another case in point is the chieftaincy disputes that have been raging on. I?ve just read the article about the ticking time bomb in Juaso. There is another case concerning the Akwamu traditional area where the case has been dragging on for almost thirteen years. After the Queen mother Nana Afrakumah had participated in the installation of the Paramount Chief, Otumfuo Ansah Sasraku VI, she turned around to litigate. The plaintiff or one chief will not show up on the day of hearing. So the case drags on. In this case, both the Eastern Regional and the National Houses of Chiefs have not recognized the Paramount Chief pending the outcome of the case, which ostensibly is in perpetual postponement. The case is being deliberated by the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs which has been given the power to settle chieftaincy disputes. This is no different from the courts. So the VRA, which is supposed to pay some royalties, have been paying into an escrow account stifling development in the area of Akosombo and Senchi. Any investor that comes to the area and gets to know of any dispute will not invest his money. I have just read about the judge who fined some party executives at Agona Swedru 30 million cedis for failing to show up in court. I think in a case that is hampering the growth of an area, the judge should impose a stiff fine when one party does not show up. But if the judge is found to be in connivance with one of the parties, then they should be disciplined and removed from the case. When we were in Ghana, we used to hear, ?Asem no appae? which means the judge has taken bribes from both sides. And there is still corruption in our courts. I don?t know about the fast track courts, but I think they have become treadmills found in gyms, moving very fast while the user stands at the same place. Perhaps with the computerization of our courts we?ll see speedy processing of cases, but if cases should last for fifteen years, and some to the impediments to developments, then the American would say, the system stinks and needs to be corrected.
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