The office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice yesterday distributed 91 vehicles to offices and agencies under the ministry to enhance justice delivery in the country.
This is in fulfillment of the promise made by the Attorney-General, and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, upon assumption of office last year.
The Legal Aid Commission, the institution that provides free legal service vulnerable in society, which used to have only six vehicles nationwide would receive 13 vehicles, while the Council for Law Reporting took four more vehicles to add to their two vehicles.
The Law Reform Commission presently with only one vehicle, a pick up vehicle which it acquired in 1996 would receive two pick up and one saloon car.
The Copyright Office took two vehicles, while the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) was allocated 13 vehicles.
Mr Dame said every regional office and other relevant agencies under the Ministry would have their share of the vehicles.
While noting that the delivery constitutes the biggest supply of vehicles at a single time in the history of the Ministry, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice said “a well-oiled Attorney General’s Department is the biggest signpost for improved conditions in the practice of law.”
Mr Dame noted that the undesirable conditions under which some offices under the Ministry of Justice work came to the fore during his visits to the head offices of various agencies.
He said the industry of state attorneys must be properly complemented with a supply of resources needed to assist in the discharge of their functions.
“It is my hope that today will mark the beginning of the realisation of my quest to set up a modern public legal service for our nation fully equipped to live up to its onerous constitutional and statutory duties to the Republic of Ghana.”
On the issue of accommodation, Mr Dame said work on a 12-storey building to accommodate the office, which commenced about 20 years ago but was estimated by the contractors to be only about 30 was steadily progressing and is on course to be completed by the end of this year.
He said “we cannot have a modern legal service without a fully functional digitised working environment. I will thus take steps to obtain the requisite funding to ensure the operationalisation of an integrated information management system for the Office of Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice.”
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
