Austin Gamey urges government to establish Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gamey and Gamey Group, a human resource consultancy has urged Government to take immediate steps to set up the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre to offer professional approach to conflict resolution.

This, Mr. Austin Gamey said is according to section 114 of ADR Act, 2010 Act 798, which has the same weight as all the international laws, rules and conventions like the International Chamber of Commerce Rules, the 1958 New York Conventions that had been domesticated into the country’s legal system.

Mr. Gamey, also the CEO of Gamey Academy of Mediation gave the advice at the closing ceremony of the 14th session of Professional Master of ADR class of the Academy in Accra at the weekend.

“Over the past few years we have all witnessed the use of ADR in the settlement of commercial cases, labour disputes, and land and chieftaincy conflicts.”

He stated it was important that ADR practitioners received quality training as Deltas or Agent of Change if ADR was to become accepted by those who seek redress for their disputes.

According to him, payment of controversial judgment debt was due to badly written agreements and failure of successive governments to seek help from practicing professionals of ADR to find out whether such agreements should be abrogated, “to devise if the matter at hand is suitable for negotiable settlement, mediation or arbitration”.

Mr. Gamey mentioned that members of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) had demonstrated their lack of appreciation of the effect of the outcome of any arbitration concluded and signed by the parties concern because they had not been trained professionally as Deltas in the field of ADR.

“It is therefore necessary that all organisations learn to seek advice from ADR professionals and not just any profession,” he said.

Superintendent Abraham Acquaye, Director and Secretary of Ghana Police Council advised the participants to put to use the knowledge they had acquired from the programme and play mediating roles wherever they found themselves.

Mrs Florence Larbi, Managing Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste management company noted that the programme had enhanced her human relations and the ability to tolerate different views.

Gamey and Gamey Academy of Mediation is dedicated to the training of ADR Specialised Practicing Professionals. For the past 13 sessions of the ADR Executive Master Programme, the academy had trained professionals like lawyers, surveyors, human resource practitioners, chiefs among others.