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Nana Eziaku IV, the Divisional Chief of the Ahanta Traditional Area, has entreated inhabitants to resort to the palace for dispute redress and settlement to promote peaceful coexistence.

He said the court system over the years had not ensured the unity of communities aside heavy sentences and remand issues that created congestion and even produced more criminals for society.

Nana Eziaku IV said the adversarial nature of judicial case settlement could never be compared to what the palaces used to do in the past and therefore called for more attention to the palace as an avenue for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

The Chief was speaking at a durbar organised by HURDS Foundation in partnership with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives for two communities: Agona-Nkwanta in the Ahanta West District and Aboadze in the Shama District.

The two communities were exposed to opportunities in the ADR Act and the Case Tracking System introduced in 2018 to ensure speedy as well as proper records of all cases in the Judicial system.

Superintendent Valentine Akposu, the District Commander of Ahanta West bemoaned the increasing rate of incest and other sexual offenses in the area and urged them to be law-abiding.

He said the laws did not only protect the citizenry but also had punitive aspects to ensure the sanctity of society.

Ms Eva Ankrah, the Executive Director of HURDS Foundation said there was a need for amendments to the ADR Acts to include petty offences that had increased the overcrowding of the prisons.

She encouraged the communities to follow up on the Case Tracking System and use ADR for amicable settlement and peaceful coexistence.