The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) is recommending an awareness creation of the court system, and its delivery procedures, especially for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs).
A survey report by the NGO on access to justice and public services (experiences of MSMEs in Ghana) showed that less than one-fifth of MSME owners or caretakers use the formal justice system to resolve business-related disputes with either clients/customers, creditors who supply business with inputs, family members, utility companies, MMDAs, employees/business partners, and tax authority.
MSME owners or caretakers, among other things, mentioned the lack of trust in the system as a reason for not accessing formal justice services.
“Equally among MSME owners who accessed the formal justice system to resolve business-related disputes cited loss of business productive hours, reduction in business operating capital, and damage to business reputation as the three major impacts of the court cases on their businesses,”
“Comparatively, male-owned and male/female-owned businesses suffered the negative effects of the court settlement of disputes more than female-owned businesses,” the report added.
The report further indicated that the perspective given by market association leads interviewed shows that they also engage in other forms of business-related dispute resolution.
According to CDD-Ghana, information from the justice system indicates that the justice service offers all litigation services at appropriate legal fees which can be accessed by anyone including MSMEs provided they can afford it.