Appeal Court in dilemma with no funds for tribunals as general elections draw nearer - President laments

The president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, on Friday, decried the unavailability of intervention funds as the general elections draw nearer.

“Permit me to state that the court is in a dilemma,” Ms Dongbam-Mensem told Samuela Isopi, ambassador, EU Delegation, who paid her a visit in her office.

“We have just 21 days until the general election and the special intervention fund to conduct the Election Petition Tribunal is yet to be released,” she said.

She added that this will impact negatively the activities of the court and tribunals to effectively discharge their constitutional duties.

The president said there were challenges experienced, but what is imperative is how the challenges were surmounted to ensure the sustenance of democracy in the country.

“In preparation for delivering its constitutional mandate, the court is faced with numerous challenges, which include but are not limited to paucity of funds,” she said.

Dongban-Mensem said the court needed funds, ICT equipment and training of staff to ensure proper management of tribunals.

“It is expected that by now, provisions would have been made for the procurement of necessary materials and equipment needed for the smooth running of the various tribunals.

“Also, we ought to have organised further training for honourable justices, members of the tribunals and secretariat staff, but we cannot due to paucity of funds.

“We are hopeful that these challenges will be soon addressed before the conduct of the general election.”

Meanwhile, she said the court has so far received 600 pre-election matters from its 20 divisions.

“The court received over 600 pre-election appeals in the 20 divisions of the court from November to date and more appeals are still being filed.

“Over 60 panels were set up in the various divisions to hear and determine all pre-election appeals filed.

“Mindful of the pressures under which the honourable justices are working, some experienced registrars of the court were empanelled to summarise the decisions so far made and distribute to the various divisions to avoid conflicting decisions,” she said.

Speaking, Isopi expressed delight in the effort noticed in the improvement in election matters.


FI