Repeated flooding of the Cocoa Affairs Court premises in Accra each time it rains heavily is hampering the effective delivery of justice. That’s according to lawyers who practice there.
The colonial structure which houses the courts is also decaying, and patrons fear it may collapse because of the inherent weakness in it.
Joy News’ Joseph Opoku Gakpo who visited the court premises reports the Cocoa Affairs Court which consists of four detached structures of which two of them are one-storey buildings, sits on a large compound of clayey soil with choked surrounding drains, causing flooding of the premises whenever it rains heavily.
Accra based legal practitioner Kwabena Owusu Mensah laments this sometimes makes it impossible to work at the courts.
‘On a rainy morning, portions of the court were not accessible because the whole place was flooded. Workers could not go to the court, and neither could we go as lawyers, and eventually the court couldn’t sit that day. And I understand other court rooms were leaking,’ he told Opoku Gakpo.
Lawyer Owusu Mensah laments this is impeding justice delivery.
The Cocoa Affairs Court houses about twenty high and circuit courts as well as offices of the Judicial Service. The structure was built in the colonial days, with the ground floor built of brick and the upper storey constructed of wood.
Opoku Gakpo reports that in some of the offices, cobwebs are all over and the electrical wiring is falling off.
He adds the paintings of the structure have peeled off, and portions of the walls are dirty. Some segments of the roofing structure are almost falling off. The staircase to the upper story is weak, and visitors fear walking on it.
Patrons of the court have therefore asked government to renovate the structure for efficient delivery of justice.
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