Former Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana and Nigeria, Yaw Nsarkoh, has argued that appointing more judges and establishing additional courts will not resolve Ghana’s judicial challenges unless the underlying causes of disputes in society are addressed.
He said the country must focus on tackling fundamental governance problems, including persistent land disputes, funeral-related conflicts and chieftaincy disputes, rather than relying on underfunded courts to manage the consequences.
Speaking at JoyNews and Amalgam of Professionals event on Tuesday, October 20, Mr Nsarkoh questioned whether enough attention was being paid to identifying the root causes of the cases that continue to overwhelm the Judiciary.
“Everywhere, there is talk of too few judges, too few courts, etc. But who is doing the detailed factor analysis to ensure that the right problem is being solved?” he asked.
He cited the large number of land disputes that pass through the judicial system as an indication that land reforms are needed to address the recurring conflicts.
“That there are so many land disputes clogging all stages of our judicial process. That there are several land courts, that so many judges’ judgments are written about land, must suggest to any serious society that land reforms are needed,” he said.
“The problems of society are not then resolved by appointing more judges. Why does our politics avoid this?” he added.
Mr Nsarkoh said similar attention should be paid to funeral-related conflicts and chieftaincy disputes, which he said continued to place pressure on the courts.
He argued that the country must address the underlying governance challenges that generate such disputes instead of leaving the Judiciary to deal with them after they arise.
“Society must deal with its fundamental problems of governance, not just outsource them to underfunded courts. We must resolve problems of society with a fundamental and systematic understanding of the root causes, not just their symptoms,” he said.
Mr Nsarkoh also called for technology to be used to improve the country’s approach to addressing these challenges, arguing that it should be embraced rather than feared.
“In this effort, we must leverage technology, not fear it. Properly used technology liberates capabilities. It can have positive revolutionary outcomes,” he said.