Audio By Carbonatix
Programmes Officer for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), African Office, Esther Ahulu, says people are usually denied speedy justice delivery in the country because they are unable to afford legal services.
She attributes the situation to a number of factors including the inability of less-privileged individuals to afford the services of lawyers and some challenges confronting the Legal Aid Commission (LAC).
In an interview on The Law on JoyNews, she argued that people who, ordinarily, should not spend even a day in detention end up being in Police custody for more than the stipulated 48 hours.
“I don’t know what else we can do because a lot of education has been going on concerning this but then I think the problem is that people lack access to legal assistance because it is not easy; it’s not affordable for people to just access lawyers to assist them in the process.
“We all know that Legal Aid Commission is the state institution that is mandated to do that but they also have their own challenges so this thing never happens… you know how our state agencies operate, especially the police, the security agencies and others.
“I mean, there is intimidation in the process and all that so you are even aware that you are not supposed to spend beyond 48 hours but you are with them so what do you do when there is nobody to assist?” she wondered.
Esther Ahulu added that sometimes the Legal Aid Commission is not even aware of people who have been arrested and would need the services of a lawyer.
It so for this reason she joined calls for the implementation of the Ghana Case Tracking System (CTS).
“I believe infusing technology into the system is the way to go. If this CTS is working as it is expected, you cannot keep somebody beyond 48 hours – you will keep the person but there will be somewhere that the system will be showing for other stakeholders to be aware that there is a problem somewhere.
“This system will now help because it has all these institutions on one platform. It is built in such a way that immediately the person reports or the police arrest the person and they enter the information on the system, Legal Aid Commission gets an alert immediately,” she explained.
Latest Stories
-
2026 Mid-Year Budget: Minority vows to block fresh funding request
37 minutes -
Fintechs must unite to strengthen Ghana’s fight against digital fraud — Prof Bokpin
1 hour -
Ramaphosa sends delegation to Mahama over xenophobic attacks in South Africa
1 hour -
Payment service providers operating in silos are weakening Ghana’s fight against fraud — Ebenezer Boffour
2 hours -
KMA reports police officer over alleged gun threat during vehicle towing operation
2 hours -
Dr Daniel Seddoh and siblings honour the memory of their mother with an ICT lab and library
2 hours -
Stanbic Bank Ghana reinforces leadership in Private Banking as Group retains Africa’s Best Private Bank title
2 hours -
3 decades of connecting people, creating opportunities and advancing Ghana’s development
2 hours -
Fraud cases involving fintechs rising as criminals exploit payment channels – Ebenezer Boffour
2 hours -
Digital fraud isn’t a war we win, it requires continuous improvement – Prof Bokpin
2 hours -
It is easier to go after humans than systems – CSA explains rise in digital fraud
2 hours -
Social engineering remains biggest driver of digital fraud in Ghana – Cudjoe-Seshie
2 hours -
KNUST wins $3m Mastercard Foundation Prize for driving higher education transformation in Africa
3 hours -
Kwaku Banning aka Boston Jnr
3 hours -
Go where the people are – Prof. Bokpin urges digital shift in financial education
3 hours