Magistrates and Judges to lay down their tools if…

The Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana has threatened to embark on a sit down strike if salaries of lower court judges are not reviewed by July this year. The association has called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to intervene and ensure the age-long demands are met before they break their resolve not to go on strike. President of the Association, Justice Victor Ofoe, insists he is struggling to convince his members to remain in the courts as the review of salaries for lower court judges has been pending since 2014. The Judicial Council in 2014 made recommendations to the presidency for the salary review but government has failed over the last four years to review the salaries of lower court judges despite several calls. The lower court judges over the period have served notice of embarking on strike, but have always heeded to calls to rescind their decisions. Justice Victor Ofoe said if government does not see the need to address their concerns; the association will be left with no option than to lay down their tools. “If the system for reviewing salaries appears to be broken down, what the judges of the lower courts are saying is that then our resolve not to go on strike should also break down, that resolve should break down, we should allow them to go on strike”, he said. It is the expectation of the association that the President, Akufo-Addo will take a personal interest in the welfare of the Magistrates and Judges, considering that he has a legal background. “We have taken a decision that on the 6^th of July, the matter is a very simple one, fortunately, the president himself is a lawyer, he knows what to do, and we expect the solution to come from the Presidents as soon as possible.” The Association says it has been forced to even rely on Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, to get the President to act. This they contend has not yielded much, forcing the association to speak on the matter. By editors.3news.com | Ghana