The washroom of the Attorney-General’s Department in Ho for both male and female is also now being used as an archive, due to the lack of space.
Worse still, some files and other documents of the department have been left on the shelves for well over three decades to gather dust, with virtually no room for new records.
With staff strength of 13, including the regional head, a state attorney, four assistant state attorneys, the department has only three computers which are currently being used by the secretaries.
“The machines break down quite frequently and our fears are that very soon the secretariat would run to a halt,” said Simon Adatsi, Senior State Attorney in-charge of the Volta Region said.
He made the startling revelation when the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Miss Gloria Akuffo, paid a day’s working visit to Ho and interacted with the staff of the department yesterday.
According to him, the six office rooms occupied by the staff of the department belonged to the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC).
Mr Adatsi complained that monies for running the office under the current Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System had become a nightmare, unlike in the past when the funds were quite regular from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
“Not only are monies meant for running the office paltry and insufficient to cater for the needs of the office, but they are also delayed for very long periods, sometimes running into years before they are received”, the senior state attorney added.
Meanwhile, one of the two official vehicles of the department is grounded and that, Mr Adatsi said, was not helping its operations in view of the long distances between Ho and other courts in the region.
He highlighted the need for secured residential accommodation for the staff of the department and disclosed that two attorneys of the department have had their residential units raided by thieves recently.
Responding, Miss Akuffo entreated the regional office of the department to prepare a budget on the basis of its priority needs, saying that those challenges were not peculiar to the Volta Region.
She gave the assurance solutions to the challenges facing the department nationwide would be addressed with “a new system intended to assist us in managing our resources”.
The Attorney-General commended the department’s staff in the region for performing creditably even in the wake of the deprivation and urged them not to give up.
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