He said if this is done, it will help speed up the process of trials of cases in the courts and also avoid situations where litigants would pave their way through by offering bribe to judges and prosecutors for judgment to go in their favour.
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Nana Kofi Arko?s call came in the wake of a recent expose of bribery scandal against some judges in the country.
According to him, by the nature of the Chieftaincy institution, Chiefs are required to show no biasness in dealing with matters that come before them, and said this mandate has been exhibited by Chiefs in their day to day dealings with the people since time immemorial.
He however described the alleged bribery as unfortunate, saying it will make the ordinary person lose confidence in the country?s judicial system.
He later expressed fear that many people may be languishing in the country?s prisons without been guilty of the offenses they were charged for, but rather their freedom was exchanged for money by some judges by compromising the law.
Meanwhile, the Minister in charge of the Agona Swedru branch of the Church of God-Ghana, Bishop Michael Takyi Anning has expressed the sentiments of the Wawase Chief, Nana Kofi Arko, calling for the establishment of Special Tribunal of Arbitration for Chiefs to mediate in civil cases.
According to him, this will help in the quick discharge of some of the numerous cases in the law Courts, and also help restore confidence of the people in both the judiciary as well as the Chieftaincy institution.
Speaking at a send-off service organized for him after his twenty four years stay as Minister of the Church, Bishop Anning expressed shock at the revelation of the bribery scandal, and noted that the revelation should be seen as a wake-up call for the country to reconsider given Chiefs powers to arbitrate in civil cases as was done during the period of colonial rule.
By: Rober Ayanful
