Bolgatanga, Sept. 12, GNA - The Chief Justice, Mr Justice George Kingsley Acquah on Friday directed that the entire staff of the Judicial Service in Walewale to report to his office or loose their jobs for being absent from work when he visited.

The Chief Justice, who is on familiarisation tour of the Northern Sector, said he stopped over at Walewale to meet with the staff but their offices were empty and he could not speak to any of them. He said he was expecting them to meet him in Accra on or before September 17 to explain their absence, otherwise they could consider themselves dismissed.

He said this in Bolgatanga when he met with the staff of the Judicial Service, whom he called upon to rededicate themselves to the work, eschew corruption, unnecessary delays and false excuses.

"All I want is honesty and hard work, to see that you are being punctual to work and staying to do what you have to do, ensuring that there are no missing documents or other excuses that would cause delay in rendering quick services", he said.

Chief Justice Acquah condemned all forms of malpractices including bribery within the Service and gave the assurance that promotion would be based on merit and that every hard working individual would be rewarded, "there will be no mass promotion anymore", he said.

He advised workers who plan to go for further studies to choose courses that are relevant to the Service and also urged all typists to learn how to use the computer.

Mr Sulley Omar, an Internal Auditor of the Service, expressed concern about the vacuum that has been created since the redeployment of the lay people who were acting and tribunal chairpersons.

He explained that the courts in the Upper East Region make a lot of revenue from many cases, as the area shared borders with Togo and Burkina Faso and with the absence of the tribunals, cases were pilling up.

Circuit Court Judge, Mr Imoro Ziblim, in welcoming the Chief Justice, on behalf of the staff pledge their co-operation and said they would do their best to uplift the image of the Service.