Assessment of the capacity of commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in exercising its mandate in Ghana

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2014-07-17
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There have been several reports and allegations of human rights abuses and administrative injustices perpetrated by present and past governments, individuals and some institutions in Ghana and successive governments since 1966 have instituted measures to protect human rights and ensure administrative justice. As a result Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was established under the 1992 Constitution with the responsibility to investigate human rights abuses and administrative injustices. The study therefore assessed the financial, human resources and logistical capacities of the Commission in carrying out its mandates. The study was conducted in Ashanti Region using a case study design. The study used convenience and purposive sampling techniques to select 15 District offices of the Commission and 60 permanent staff as respondents respectively. The data was analysed using SPSS, version 16.0. From the analysis, it was realized that the Commission is not able to perform its functions effectively due to financial, human resources and logistical constraints but financial capacity was the most challenge. These constraints have resulted in slow mediation and settlement of cases and the cases resolved in the period of consideration was below 50 per cent of the reported cases. The following recommendations were made based on the findings: the Commission should attract and retain experienced staff through good motivation or incentive package. Moreover, the Commission should be allowed to directly submit its annual budget to parliament and adequately resourced financially and logistically.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Policy and Planning, 2014
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