COURT PRESIDENT URGES STAFF TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS RESOLVING ITS CHALLENGES

The President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante on Monday, 30^th June 2019 opened the 12^th Administration and Budget Retreat of the Court at Goshen City , near Abuja and used the opportunity to urge staff to join hands with the management in addressing the challenges militating against the effective functioning of the Court.

The President, who was represented by the Vice President, Honorable Justice Gberi-Be Ouattara, challenged them to proffer ideas that would enable the Court improve productively by addressing the problems undermining the realization of its mandate such as the reduction in the number of judges, the shortage of staff in strategic areas and inadequate equipment.

He said that the retreat, the last in the series of three retreats organized by the Court, will review the activities of its various units, particularly budget performance for the first six months of the year and initiate the process for the 2020 draft budget for submission to the authorities of the Community later in the year.

In his remarks, the Director of Administration and Finance of the Court, Dr. William Deiyan Towah, said the retreat will afford the participants the opportunity to examine issues that border on current trends in career management, recruitment, performance evaluation, staff training, and measure of social protection envisaged in the Community Institutions including Staff Leave pension, Insurance, Travel, Ticketing, Risk Management and others.

He said that the 2020 draft budget that will emanate from the retreat, which was prepared without the benefit of the budget circular from the President of the Commission, will be modified to align with the objectives of the circular which provides guidance for the preparation of the budgets of the Commission and institutions taking cognizance of the expected inflow from the Community levy and other sources.

Some 70 staff including the Honorable Judges, their Executive Assistants, Directors are participating in the five day retreat.