Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has supported the incorporation of the study of legal ethics in the curriculum of law faculties. She said the initiative would promote the culture of appropriate disciplines for the legal profession. 'I am aware that there is brisk consideration for the incorporation of the study of legal ethics within the curriculum of law faculties. 'Allow me to suggest that to increase the ethical requirement for propriety, this curriculum be accompanied with directions on dress code and other codes on behaviour that necessarily follow the life of a legal practitioner.' Chief Justice Torkornoo was speaking at a public lecture and the launch of the maiden edition of the Gertrude Torkornoo Moot Court Competition at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GHIMPA) Law School in Accra. The public lecture was under the theme: 'Ethics, Compliance and Accountability: A Holistic Approach to Adjudication'. The Gertrude S. Torkornoo Moot Court Competition is a national conte st that would bring together participants from various law faculties across Ghana. The event would serve as a platform for students to refine their advocacy and litigation skills and prepare them for work in their future legal careers. The Chief Justice engaged participants on the place of ethics in adjudication and successful lawyering, the place of compliance in successful lawyering and a holistic approach to ethics by an adjudicator. She told law students that discipline, as an ethical value, played a key role in achieving a successful career. 'Discipline is enforced behaviour. When discipline becomes imbibed as culture, it produces fruit of excellence for the practitioner.' The Chief Justice said while successful lawyering was strongly anchored on compliance of ethical values, the justice sector derived its strength from the constitution, statutes and from professional codes of conducts. ' Compliance with ethical values is, therefore, not an inconvenient call that disturbs the smooth catwalk to pomp of lawyering, but a gentle set of directional sign posts that lead the legal professional to the standards of intellectual delivery required for justice to be adequately served to citizens to whom belong the right of justice.' She noted that another skill set was independent thinking, competence, diligence and integrity. Those, she said, delivered the ability for professionals to correctly dissect facts and draw out cross hairs of legal principles. According to her, the application of ethical values in the conduct of legal work was, therefore, a constitutional requirement and it did not merely reside in the enclave of morality and philosophy. She said the 1992 Constitution had set out the key ethical values that the nation demanded from its justice delivery system. Those, she said, included independence of the judiciary in the administration of justice, integrity as an anchor of the judge's character, competence in the conduct of the work of a judge and diligence in the management of the business of just ice delivery. Juxtaposing the place of ethics in adjudication and successful lawyering, the Chief Justice said successful lawyering did not rise only from depth of knowledge of law, but more from the exercise of adept skills and character. On the Moot Court Competition, the Chief Justice was elated that GIMPA School of Law had given unique opportunities to faculties and Schools of Law to weave into the set of curriculum, a contest of learning that delivered training in skills and of values through moot court arrangements. Dr Enam Antonio, Lecturer and Chairperson, Moot Court and Clinical Legal Education Committee, GIMPA School of Law, said the Moot Court had been elevated as an extra curriculum activity of the School. According to Dr. Antonio, the Moot Court would help students to appreciate Ghana's laws. Source: Ghana News Agency Several children from poor families in Murang'a County have breathed a sigh of relief after a local foundation offered them full scholarships for their secondary education. The Irungu Nyakera Foundation identified some 110 learners from extremely poor families and offered them scholarships to pursue secondary education at various local schools. The Sh10 million scholarship kitty is earmarked to support the students as they pursue the four-year education course without facing tuition fee challenges. On Saturday, the Patron of the Foundation, Irungu Nyakera, issued the learners with cheques to enable them to report to their respective schools. The beneficiaries who were admitted to Day secondary schools have been languishing at home as others joined Form One due to financial constraints. The foundation targeted students who attained over 200 marks in the KCPE and who hail from extremely poor families and could not afford to pay fees for day secondary schools. Coordinators of the foundation traversed villa ges to identify students who were yet to join Form One, with the target being children of single parents and those from families where parents are suffering terminal illness. Issuing the cheques, Nyakera, who is currently chairperson of KEMSA, said the programme is aimed at ensuring learners from poor families and those who did not attain marks to join national schools also get a chance to attain their education dreams. Nyakera, speaking at Kenol, noted that the first batch of 350 students sponsored by the foundation who were in boarding schools completed their secondary education last year, enabling the foundation to pick another group. He confirmed that the foundation, which was established in 2017, picked beneficiaries from all parts of the county to ensure all areas were positively impacted. 'Apart from full payment of school fees, the students will get mentorship to ensure they are well-rounded and responsible people once they complete their studies. 'We understand students are exposed to various in fluences which lead them to indulge in irresponsible behaviour, thus ruining their future lives. The mentorship will play a key part in their lives,' he added. 'Education is the future of any nation. The students will have their full fees paid and will also benefit from a mentorship programme that will help them integrate with their peers,' Nyakera stated. He confirmed that another group of Form One students will be shortlisted next year, calling on Kenyans of goodwill to ensure they support needy students from their areas to help change their lives. Maragua MP Mary Waithera lauded the initiative, observing that some learners are yet to join Form One due to lack of fees. She noted that Day secondary schools embrace the neediest learners, many of whom receive admission letters from county or extra-county schools but are unable to join them due to poverty. Maragua NGCDF, she said, has issued bursaries worth Sh46 million but added that the sponsorship was only able to cover about 60 per cent of applicants. M ary Wanjiru, a parent from Mariira in Kigumo sub-county, was ecstatic after her son was listed for the scholarship grant, saying she had lost hope of enrolling him in a secondary school. Wanjiru, a farmhand who picks tea for her livelihood, lauded the foundation, saying the scholarship will ensure her son will pursue his secondary education. 'Whatever I make per day, I use it to feed my children, and I could not spare anything to take my son to school. The foundation has done me a big favour,' she added. Source: Kenya News Agency
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