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Pres swears in Mensah-Bonsu, Kulendi as Supreme Court judges
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sworn into office, Prof Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu, a professor of Law and Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, a successful legal practitioner, as new justices of the Supreme Court.
At separate ceremonies at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday, President Akufo-Addo urged the new justices to enhance the quality of the work of the Apex Court with their rich experience in the legal field.
Prof Mensah-Bonsu has enjoyed a successful career in the fields of academics, female activism, international relations, public service and religious engagements.
She is the Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, Member of the Legal Committee for the Ghana National Commission on Children, Member of the Board of the Ghana Methodist Church, President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other positions.
Justice Kulendi is a successful private legal practitioner who has earned considerable respect in the legal profession.
President Akufo-Addo described his appointment as a personal experience, indicating that Justice Kulendi had his pupilage at his chamber, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, and “cutting his teeth” in his early days at the bar.
President Akufo-Addo said the appointment of the two legal luminaries, which came on the heels of engagements with the Judicial Council, Council of State, and with the approval of Parliament, would help strengthen the development of the Court’s jurisprudence and case law.
He advised the Supreme Court not to follow decisions of any other court, including its own, and entreated justices of the court to possess sound knowledge of the law.
“Judges should not prefer judgments on the basis of decisions from lower courts and cite them as law,” he said and indicated that the situation where judges site no law at all should also be avoided.
“Justices must be learned, know their case law and ensure that their decisions and judgments are properly motivated,” he said.
President AKufo-Addo said the public expects that if anyone fell foul of the law, the person should be dealt with accordingly and appealed to judges to ensure that justice was done to all persons without any considerations.
Justice Prof Mensah Bonsu and Justice Kulendi thanked the President for nominating him to the Supreme Court and pledged to always devote their time and talents to serve the country to the best of their ability.
By Yaw Kyei
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
