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afrol News, 21 March - The Chief Justice of Ghana, Edward Wiredu, recently referred to a debt of 7 billion cedis (1 million euro) his administration inherited due to "mismanagement and corruption" by some officials of the Judicial Service. He now has made a declaration promising to fight corruption in the service. According to a public declaration by the Ghanaian Chief Justice, corrupt practices rife in the nation's judicial service. The Ghanaian press reacted cool to the "disclosure". According to the Accra-based 'Ghanaian Chronicle', it already was "common knowledge that some bailiffs, clerks, registrars and prosecutors are so corrupt that they have lost all moral justification for being in a service charged to dispense justice to all manner of people." The Ghanaian newspaper 'Daily Graphic' reported that Justice Wiredu had expressed the hope that his administration would be "able to stand up to the task and restore sanity into the Judicial Service." The newly appointed Chief Justice has been a superior court judge for 33 years. Justice Wiredu especially mentioned the fact that that there were "many people with fake qualifications" in the profession who had brought the Judicial Service into disrepute and promised that his administration would fight against it. Wiredu is in line with national policy. The President of Ghana, John Kufour, at his inauguration speech last year, declared "zero tolerance for corruption." The majority of Ghanaians welcomed this dedication, as they had lost confidence in the government of Jerry Rawlings' policy against corruption, mostly composed of words. With Kufour, action followed words, and soon after his inauguration, the popular Youth and Sports Minister, Mallam Isa, was convicted to a prison sentence for corruption. Within the Judiciary, however, "corruption scandals" are no longer scandals. Already the 1997 Auditor-General's Report concluded that Ghana's Judiciary was steeped in corruption. The report revealed a catalogue of corruption, misapplication of funds and unnecessary interference in the day-to-day financial administration of the sector by the then Chief Justice. Thus, a 'Ghanaian Chronicle' editorial in a laconic way "humbly" noted that Justice Wiredu's enumeration was just the tip of the iceberg. "It is an open secret that some judges and tribunal chairmen collect bribes from accused persons and even, at times, the plaintiffs," the newspaper noted. Sources: Based on Ghanaian press and afrol archives
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