Keynote Address: Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana On the Occasion of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN JUDGES (IAWJ) 18TH AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Source: judicial_service_of_ghana

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN JUDGES (IAWJ) 18 TH AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE OPENING CEREMONY Date: 13 MAY 2024 VENUE: LABADI BEACH HOTEL, ACCRA-GHANA THEME: ‘COMBATING NEGATIVE CULTURAL PRACTICES- THE ROLE OF WOMEN JUDGES’ Keynote Address: Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana Her Ladyship Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice of the Supreme Court and President of the Local Organising Committee for this Conference Her Ladyship Justice Cyra Pamela C. A. Koranteng, Justice of the Court of Appeal and Judicial Secretary Hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Hon. Justice Binta Nyako, President of the IAWJ Executive Director IAWJ, Ms. Christie Jones Hon. Justice Roli Harriman: Regional Director, IAWJ, West and South Africa Hon. Justice Henrietta Wolanyo: Regional Director, IAWJ, Central and East Africa Her Ladyship Justice Rita Agyeman-Budu, President, IAWJ, Ghana Presidents of the various Chapters herein present Members of the various Chapters herein present Let me express my heartfelt gratitude to the International Association of Women Judges (Africa Region) for the honor of the invitation to deliver the keynote address on the theme ‘ Combating Negative Cultural Practices – the Role of Women Judges ’, chosen for this 18 th Regional Conference here in Accra. Associations such as IAWJ are crucial to the success of our work as Judges, because they supply the motivation, encouragement and flow of exchanges of ideas and experiences that help all jurisdictions to absorb best practices developed around the world. I trust that this conference will provide opportunities for inspiration, elucidation and strengthening of concepts that will enable us return to our work with new energy, new passion and new ideas to strengthen justice delivery in all of our jurisdictions. Let me begin my address, with an extract from a feature article published in September 2022 on Graphic Online , which is the online portal of the Daily Graphic newspaper, the most widely read news daily in Ghana. The article was titled, “ A day in the life of kayayei: The struggles, misery of Bintu, Ramatu ’. It tells the sorry story about the daily travail of two head porters, in the heart of Ghana’s capital city, Accra. Bintu Mohammed, 38, was a native of Savelugu in the Northern Region, who had been in the head porter (kayayei) business for over two decades. She escaped from forced marriage and got to Accra in 2001, and went into this business for her livelihood. Now a mother of three, Bintu continued to break her back with heavier loads to fend for her children. According to the President of the Kayayei Youth Association (KYA), Mohammed Osman, about 35,000 kayayei operate in five commercial cities in the country - Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Techiman and Ho. Their ages range from 10 to 40. Many of them have fled from forced marriages and poverty and move into cities for the social anonymity that protects them from exploitation, as well as the opportunity for jobs and better living standards. The life of the kayayo is often expressed in the sight of a young female with babies strapped to her back, who goes through daily drudgery for uncertain reward. From dawn to dusk, they scavenge markets and other business enclaves of Accra to cart heavy loads. At the end of each day, Bintu is completely drained. In her own words, “ As I stand now, my knees and waist ache badly. I have to buy painkillers at the end of every day so that I can work the following day, ” she said. Unlike the earlier years, Bintu said she could barely make GH¢30, a paltry US$3 then, because the Kayayei numbers had increased forcing them to accept very low tokens for their services. As the proceeds from the Kayayei business continue to dwindle, Bintu has to also grapple with accommodation challenges. “ I live in the Old Fadama slum. We were 10 in a room but four left, so we are now six. We all pay GH¢10 per week. It is difficult to pay this rent because things are bad ,” she said. Another head porter, Ramatu Mohammed, 17, a graduate of Nyankpala Islamic Junior High School in Tamale, said she did not continue her education to Senior High School because her father could not provide for her. “ I arrived in Accra six months ago to engage in kayayei so that I can raise some money to buy a sewing machine and other stuff required for a passing-out ceremony ,” she said. Ramatu perches with seven others in a wooden structure along the Korle Lagoon at Old Fadama. “ We pay GH¢10 each week. Anytime you do not pay the rent, you are ejected, so you sleep outside ,” she said. The story of Bintu and Ramatu, while situated in Accra, opens a window into the vortex of the effect of many negative cultural practices, prevalent across the face of our continent, which undermine quality of life, and cause irreparable harm to the weak and vulnerable in our societies, particularly women and the girl child. Work place exploitation, child marriage, domestic violence, stereotyping such women carrying a larger burden at home, kayayei, forced migration, orange girls, From virginity testing, child marriages, forced marriages, female genital mutilation, domestic and gender based violence, work place exploitation, stereotyping that leads to more exploitation in every social context, including domestic arrangements that compel women to carry a larger burden in marriage, widowhood rites, widow inheritance, persecution of people living with disabilities – the list is endless – hardly any African country is spared the scourge of unwholesome practices that have assailed our societies for centuries and continue to be widespread and prevalent into the 21 st Century. In Ghana the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey reported that 36.6% of women had experienced physical violence by the age of 15. About one in four Ghanaian women have suffered physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner (UN Women, 2022). The Ghana Police Service reported 16,000 cases of domestic violence in 2020 (GBC Ghana online, 2022a; Ghanaian Times, 2022; B&FT online, 2022) – almost certainly an under-estimate of the problem, as many cases of gender-based violence go unreported by victims who distrust the legal system or fear stigmatisation or retribution. Indeed Police and scholars agree that the true extent of Gender Based Violence is unknown because many attacks on girls and women are never reported. Reasons include fear of the attacker, fear of a negative response by others, perceived stigma for families, or the belief that the authorities won’t take the case seriously (Palermo, Bleck, & Peterman, 2014). Similarly, Female genital mutilation (FGM) which is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the practice of cutting parts or complete removal of female external genitalia for cultural reasons continues to be a practice in 28 African nations, representing more than half of the continent. Indeed, statistics show that each year, no less than three million females are circumcised. There are many short and long-term complications associated with the practice of FGM. Immediate complications include psychological trauma, hemorrhage, shock, very severe pain, impaired wound healing, increased exposure to blood, and transmittable infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B – a direct result of applying the same knife to different victims during the procedure. Long-term complications include chronic infections of the genital tract, reproductive tract and urinary tract, difficulties during menstruation, and what should have been normal conjugal relations during marriage. Interestingly, studies on economic status show that women from families with economic power and women exposed to higher education, are less likely to be subjected to the majority of these negative cultural practices that persist on the continent of Africa. Many of the named and unnamed cultural practices that affect the health and quality of life of women thrive strongest in poverty and illiteracy. So how can we as women Judges contribute effectively to the need to combat negative cultural practices? Let me propose that we keep in view the intricate linkages between all parts of human life. In Chapter 6 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution , these linkages are highlighted in the Directive Principles of State Policy . Between article 34 to 41 , the principles for achieving the nation’s political objectives, economic objectives, social objectives, educational objectives, cultural objectives, objectives of Ghana’s international relations, and duties of citizens are set out with the kind of clarity that should assist every Judge to weave the philosophies behind them into every judgment, in order to achieve the type of society the Constitution caters for. Allow me to quote from article 39 (2) on cultural objectives, which is particularly germane to the discussions of this conference: ‘ The State shall ensure that appropriate customary and cultural values are adapted and developed as an integral part of the growing needs of the society as a whole; and in particular, that traditional practices which are injurious to the health and well being of the person are abolished .’ These principles should help guide decisions in the soft places that hard law has not spoken. Second, it is clear that, the stronger the protection of human rights within a community, the more attractive it is as an investment destination. The more assertive in efficiency, integrity, and transparency that a justice delivery system is, the more attractive it is as an investment destination for citizens, foreigners and every vehicle of business creation. Judges therefore an in prime place to apply the law in a manner that sends a signal of abhorrence of every form of exploitation, including the promotion of human rights and protection of women from harmful cultural and traditional practices. By virtue of the unique position we hold in our society, Judges exert influence that will always be a force for good. The nature of the judicial career provides knowledge of the socio-cultural topography of the national environment and the communities in which we work, which is useful raw material for contributing thought to other policy makes on how to combat and eradicate harmful cultural practices. Additionally, in our various Judiciaries, our voice as a powerful caucus should be strong in the advocacy for the introduction and implementation of policies that promote the rights of women and the vulnerable in the society. Our numbers and voice must count for something in shaping social direction and institutions. It is noteworthy that steadily, the representation of women on the Ghanaian Bench keeps increasing. Ghana has seen a significant increase in the number of Judges/Magistrates in the Judiciary over the past 4 years. In 2019, the Judiciary recorded a total of 138 females. By 2022/2023 Legal Year, this number had appreciated to 218, signifying an increase of approximately 58% within the 4 year period. While there are still more Male Judges/Magistrates than women, this rate of increase is encouraging for gender parity in the coming years. The contribution to the fight against domestic and gender based violence of Ghana’s Judiciary led to the establishment of Child Friendly Gender Based Violence Courts across the country as a special division of the District Court, the first of which was inaugurated in Accra in 2018 by my predecessor Chief Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo. Their establishment was borne out of the unfortunate fact that children and minors had to sometimes encounter the judicial system as witnesses to a crime, victims or sometimes, as accused persons. This necessitated that are treated in a manner protective of their unique vulnerabilities and conditions as children. These special courts are fitted to accommodate the special physical, developmental and emotional requirements of children, and to protect them from any trauma occasioned by the judicial system. The courts have customised furniture for the specific use and conditions of children in a play area that has books and toys while they wait to join court proceedings. They also have, most critically, a victim evidence room that prevents children from having contact with the accused persons during their testimony. The courts also make use of Information and Communication Technology to ease and speed up the court process. With these facilities, the judicial system is able to minimise re-traumatisation of child victims and witnesses that can occur during the quest to seek justice. It is also able to eliminate the questioning of children in inappropriate conditions. Other added benefits have been the strengthening of relevant stakeholders to handle children and investigations, more efficient court processes in gender-based cases and the speedy and confidential resolution of sexual crimes against children. Ultimately, these courts help to protect children against miscreants who will now know that the system is better prepared to deal with their acts. Another way in which women Judges can combat harmful cultural practices is the mentoring of women and girls. I began my address with the depressing story of Bintu and Ramatu. I conclude on a happy note with the story of Sala Abudu. In her own words, ‘ I was once a head porter (popularly referred to as Kayayei). I come to Accra from Tamale in the Northern Region every vacation to engage in kayayei business while in my first year of Junior High School. I dropped out of school during the second year of Senior High School because I couldn’t endure the stress any long, so I fully joined the Kayayei business until I was introduced to the Chief Justice Mentoring Programme by Purim African Youth Platform. It gave me hope and really empowered me to go back to school, and UNFPA and PAYDP has been supportive ever since ’. The Chief Justice’s Mentoring Programme which Sala Abudu referred to was introduced in 2008 by former Lady Chief Justice, Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. It was designed as an educational programme of the Judicial Service for students in Second Cycle Institutions to familiarize themselves with the work of the Judiciary in Ghana. It serves as a platform for participating students to interact with members of the Bench and the Bar to demystify the legal profession and to encourage students to consider future careers in the legal profession. With the support of the UNFPA, the Programme was expanded in 2016 to include young kayayei who had dropped out of school but still had the ambition of furthering their education. Sala Abudu was one of such beneficiaries of the Mentoring Programme. Today she is studying for a BSc in Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Ghana. She is joined in this happy effect of the Chief Justice’s mentoring program by another mentee at the Accra Technical University. Since I assumed office in June last year, we have further deepened the Mentoring Programme and established Justice Clubs in Senior High Schools, the first two of which I inaugurated a couple of weeks ago. The goal is to create a dedicated corps of students in Senior High Schools who have been mentored and equipped with knowledge about their rights and responsibilities to pass on that knowledge to their colleagues and thereby raise the consciousness of young adults in second cycle institutions regarding the concept of rights, entitlements, and obligations which make for a strong regime in the rule of law. My dear colleagues, it is the stories of the Sala Abudus that give me hope that together, we can win the fight against obnoxious cultural practices on our continent, however long it takes. May the Lord bless us all as we endeavor to make justice flow down like a river, and righteousness like a never ending stream. Thank you very much. Prev Next