The Herald Ghana: The Chief Justice must establish special courts to deal with armed robbery

On Friday, October 30, armed robbers went on a moronic rampage in a broad daylight robbery at Alabar in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Armed robbers have taken siege in many parts of the country, wielding sophisticated weapons, killing and maiming their victims in the process.

Last month Ghana lost two of their illustrious sons to armed robbery. The first was Professor Yaw Benneh of the University of Ghana, Legon, this was followed by the shooting to death of the Member of Parliament (MP) of Mfantseman, Ekow Quansah Hayson, who was returning from election campaign in his Constituency.

It is no longer news that many parts of the country, have been witnessing the activities of armed robbers, who block and rob traders, who are on their way to or from market centres.

This newspaper is of the considered opinion that what emboldens these criminals is the sluggish nature of adjudication, which takes time for a case to be determined and appropriate sanctions meted out.

We note with serious concern, the fact that the slow and needlessly cumbersome process of seeking justice in Ghana has, unfortunately, led to a distrust for the judicial process.

Chief Justices in the past have been minded by the exigencies of the time to set up courts, which sometimes sat on Saturdays so that justice can be dispensed with dispatch.

These criminals cannot hold the country to ransom. The Chief Justice Anin Yeboah, must as a matter of priority and urgency establish a special court to deal with only armed robbery cases and they the court must sit on Saturday and Sunday, if possible.

There is also the need to use technology to drive the reform process in the nation's judiciary. Technology has been confirmed to help in hastening the process of justice delivery. Our judges must adjust quickly and make use of technology, if not the desire of Ghanaians for quick dispensation of justice will remain unrealized.

Now more than ever, it is time for the Chief Justice to rise to the occasion, we need to send a strong warning to the criminals that the country is not a banana state and that we are ready for them.