Unfairness in promotions and transfers in judiciary

Tamale, Dec. 4, GNA - The Judicial Service is plagued with favouritism and discrimination in promotions and transfers of staff, particularly those to the Northern part of the country as a form of punishment.

Mr. Akwasi Mireku, the Administrator of the Tamale High Court said this when the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood interacted with members of the bar, the bench and staff of the Judiciary in Tamale on Tuesday.

He said there was no transparency in promotions in the Service which sometimes led to situations where some people were promoted about three times in a year without any justification. He said some staff had stayed in some regions for over 15 years while others were transferred to the North on the slightest excuse "as a punishment area for people who are loud mouthed".

Mr. Mireku said the situation created suspicion and mistrust in the Service leading to deep-seated apathy and frustration. "The show of power is killing the Service," he added.

The High Court Administrator appealed for the upgrading of Office equipment and the installation of computers for the court. The Chief Justice urged the judicial staff to seek advice before undertaking any specialised training and explained that it would be difficult to promote all those who had the required qualifications if vacancies were limited.

She urged the judiciary to live by the ethics of the profession and ensure that their conduct was above reproach. Chief Justice Wood said the problems of infrastructure development of the courts were so much and that the piece meal budgetary allocations could not solve them and therefore pleaded for understanding until the needed resources and capital were sourced to undertake the major ones. The Chief Justice also paid a courtesy call on Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, the Northern Regional Minister.