Bolgatanga-Ghana, Oct. 26, GNA- Mr Richard Adazabra, a legal practitioner, Legal Aid Office in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region says the region is making significant strides in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
He said they were also expanding their scope with more ADR offices in all the districts, to help in resolving cases.
Mr Adazabra said the new offices would enable clients who have travelled longer distances to access services close to them in the districts.
He was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga in response to current arrangements and interventions made to boost work.
He said the new offices were in Tongo, the Talensi District, Bongo district, Navrongo, in the Kassena Nankana Municipality, Nangodi in Nabdam district, Sandema in the Builsa district and Paga in the Kassena Nankana West district.
He said ADR was achieving a lot of results in the region and the expansion would help reduce the duration of case resolution and travelling distances for Officers and clients.
Mr Adazabra said the resolution of cases was done within the Legal Aid Commission (LAC) and the law courts were empowered to refer cases that might need ADR to an ADR officer within the same court setting, whether it is a district court, circuit court or, high court.
Speaking on challenges faced in the current expansion in the region, he reiterated that LAC had no resources to employ and presently needed more hands.
“We increasingly depend on NABCO personnel, and we hope to apply to the National Service Scheme (NSS) for more personnel to assist to man the offices since LAC cannot employ with the limited resources available to it.” He stressed.
“People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of ADR in the region, and we are overwhelmed with cases already at hand, more so with the little resources we have,” he said.
He appealed to agencies and private entities to help equip the LAC offices with computers and printers and running cost of electricity “.
“We are not just folding ours arms and doing nothing but managing with the little logistics that come to us “, he said.
