TEMA GETS LAND COURT (PAGE 23, DEC 2, 2010)

A land court has been opened in Tema to improve access to justice and ensure speedy, efficient and cost-effective resolution of land cases.
The court is located on the premises of the Tema Development Corporation. It will enable the Judicial Service to expeditiously dispose of land cases to ensure economic growth of the Tema Metropolis.
Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo of the Supreme Court, who represented the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood, inaugurated the court and said statistics showed that land cases accounted for more than 80 per cent of all new civil cases filed in courts in Ghana.
She said they included investment-related land cases, stools or skins and family lands.
Justice Akoto Bamfo noted that the system of land administration is fraught with many challenges adding that “being a most valuable natural resource , issues related to land had always assumed great importance since it is crucial to human existence”.
She said the right to shelter, education, health and work had all been enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and, therefore, its enjoyment was beyond question .
Justice Akoto Bamfo stated that land cases continued to increase resulting in delays in justice delivery .
She commended the TDC for providing accommodation for the court and its registry .
Justice Akoto Bamfo was of the view that with the inauguration of the court ,delays which had unfortunately been accepted as a norm in adjudication of land cases would be minimised.
She appealed to presiding judges ,lawyers ,court staff and litigants to contribute their quota towards ensuring that cases were disposed of with minimum delay .
Justice Akoto Bamfo also tasked them to take good care of the facility, keep the surroundings clean and desist from practices which would bring the administration of justice into disrepute .
The Managing Director of the Tema Development Corporation, Mr Joe Abbey, was grateful to the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood for embarking on series of projects and programmes to improve the justice delivery system in Ghana.
He said at present, TDC had about 80 cases pending before the law courts out of which about 60 of them were purely issues that were related to land allocation.




























r Abbey noted that litigation related to land is a perennial feature and had been a major setback to development .
He stated that litigation on land cases were frustrating and tiresome for the parties involved .
Mr Abbey also disclosed that TDC in carrying out its mandate of planning ,developing and managing the Tema township had found itself in land disputes ,many of which were still being pursued in various courts .
He said it was the TDC 's decision to use the courts to solve some of the cases of unauthorised developments within the township.