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MAKOLA LAW (6 unread)

September 02, 2009
10:14
Additional Note on Children's Rights
» ‎ MAKOLA LAW

span style="font-weight:bold;"The Best Interest Principle/spanbr /br /Ghanaian law stipulates that in all matters involving the custody, upbringing, education, care, health, discipline etc, of the child, the best interest of the child is paramount. It is certainly not in the best interest of a child to cut off her education just because she got pregnant.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1318853238740553697-5907787477063308657?l=makolalaw.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
September 01, 2009
16:53
Do School Kids have Rights to Privacy, Respect, etc?
» ‎ MAKOLA LAW

I understand you to say that your daughter got pregnant in school. She was subjected to a ‘strip-search’ in front of teachers to determine whether she was pregnant. She was verbally abused by the school authorities. Ultimately, she was expelled from the school.br /br /I shall presume that your daughter was, at the time, below the age of 18. By Ghanaian law, she was a child.br /br /Ghanaian law protects the right of a child to education. It is a fundamental human right. It cannot be taken away from the child, no matter what. Even pregnancy does not derogate from the right. Therefore, the school authorities were wrong to expel your daughter just because she was pregnant. For practical reasons, they may have recommended deferring school for a year for maternity reasons, or even for reasons of not distracting the other children. But dismissal is strong medicine.br /br /A child has the right not to be subjected to any form of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. Verbally abusing the child and subjecting them to a public ‘strip-search’ is certainly degrading and inhumane. The school authorities and teachers had absolutely no right to do that.br /br /I have not made the time to research into the subsidiary legislation of the Ghana Education Service, but my answer to you is based on the supreme law – the Constitution, and the Children’s Act. We have condoned the discriminatory act of throwing pregnant girls out of school, while the boys they got pregnant with (if they are boys in school) are allowed to go on and finish their education. It is not constitutional.br /br /You (as guardian of the poor girl) have a cause of action against the School at the Human Rights Division of the High Court.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1318853238740553697-159648340449940772?l=makolalaw.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
August 26, 2009
18:11
Taking a Loan in Ghana
» ‎ MAKOLA LAW

A bank loan is usually granted in the form of a contract between the bank and the borrower. A borrower must know the purpose for the loan. It may be agriculture, a mortgage (building), or business. The bank would like to know that your use of the loan money will yield results. Having a purpose also determines which bank you will approach e.g. HFC Bank if you want to acquire a house (mortgage), ADB if you want to engage in agriculture, etc.br /br /There are also “Non-Bank Financial Institutions” like NDK Financial Services and Pro-Credit which can give substantial loans without the traditional bureaucracy of banks.br /br /A lender would (after looking at the purpose of the borrower) typically investigate the creditworthiness of the borrower. Creditworthiness measures the likelihood (from all the circumstances) of the borrower repaying the loan when interest and the principal fall due.br /br /A lender may also include a “Security” section in the contract. The security is the arrangement which allows the lender to take over specified property of a defaulting borrower, and possibly selling such property to recover the amount owed it (the lender) by the borrower.br /br /The range of types of security is quite wide, but it includes: br /br /Mortgage (where the borrower puts up their house as security for the loan)br /Hypothecation of Stock (where the borrower takes a loan to trade and puts up the trading stock as security)br /Cash Collateral (where the borrower keeps an account with the lender, and is required to keep a minimum amount in it at every point in time)br /Guarantee (where another person puts up their property or gives a promise to pay money as security for the loan)br /Receivables (where the borrower’s debtors in business are required to pay the debts into a specified account kept by the borrower with the lending bank).br /br /A borrower must take their time to study the contract given them by the bank (and seek independent legal and/or financial advice) before signing the contract. There are other considerations which must be looked at such as administrative fees payable by the borrower, interest, events of default, default interest, provisions for early repayment, etc.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1318853238740553697-7468857053663597406?l=makolalaw.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
August 19, 2009
16:44
Making a Will in Ghana
» ‎ MAKOLA LAW

Anybody who is at least 18 years old can make a will. A will disposes of a person’s present property, as well as the property the person may acquire between the time they make their will, and the time they die. This means you do not have to make a will every time you acquire new property.br /br /The person who makes the will is the “testator”. The persons who benefit from “gifts” under the will are “beneficiaries”. A testator must appoint a person or persons in their will who will ensure that their instructions in the will are carried out. These appointees are “executors”. The law does not set a minimum number of executors, but it is wise (and standard practice) to appoint at least 2. An executor must be at least 21 years old. It is wise to appoint as executors people who are significantly younger than the testator.br /br /A will, once made, can be cancelled or amended either entirely, or in part. This can be done by a totally new will or a supplementary document called a “codicil”.br /br /A will must be signed (called execution) by the testator. Execution must take place in the presence of at least 3 people – the testator and at least 2 witnesses. After the testator signs his signature (he thumbprint too) before the witnesses, the witnesses must sign their signatures too (called attesting) in the presence of each other. Note that when a testator is executing by thumbprint, there must be words to the effect that he understood the contents of the will when the testator executed the will. Note that a beneficiary under the will must not also be a witness to its execution.br /br /The safest place to keep a will is in the registry of the High Court. Upon presentation at the High Court, a will is sealed before it goes into storage for safekeeping.br /br /Note that where a testator disinherits their dependants in a will, the High Court has the power to make reasonable provision for such dependants.br /br /Above all, note that, although a person can make their will without engaging a lawyer, they are better off getting a lawyer to draft it the will involves complex instructions, land and houses and “joint gifts”.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1318853238740553697-1323841165934882694?l=makolalaw.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
August 10, 2009
8:41
Maternity Leave
» ‎ MAKOLA LAW

The labour laws of Ghana provide for 12 weeks of maternity leave, in addition to a person's annual leave. There is no provision for when maternity leave starts and ends. In practice, most women wait for as long as possible in order that they have the bulk of the leave outstanding when they have the child. For example, many women wait until the second week or the week before birth before they go on maternity leave. This will leave about 10 or 11 weeks of maternity leave, plus the 4 weeks of annual leave, which is good for the sake of breastfeeding. In addition to the paid maternity and annual leave, discussed already, there is a further 2 weeks of maternity leave, if a woman has a multiple birth.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1318853238740553697-5228946859955969727?l=makolalaw.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
July 22, 2009
20:25
Acquiring a House in Ghana
» ‎ MAKOLA LAW

Dear Anon,br /br /You write that you would like to buy a house in Ghana. Chances are you are thinking about an already-existing neighbourhood. But, I will go ahead and give some advice on buying bare land to build on.br /br /1. I cannot warn you enough to be careful to make sure that you buy property and not litigation.br /br /2. Be careful of landowners in and around the capital. They may not be the owners of the land they purport to sell to you, no matter how convincing they sound, and how genuine their title documents appear.br /br /3. Sign a contract for the sale of the land, conduct investigations and searches and the Land Title Registry or Lands Commission to know what transactions affect the land you want to buy. You may be required to pay a deposit of the purchase price on signing the contract.br /br /4. Try to eliminate agents and middlemen as much as possible, unless their role is restricted to only identifying and introducing you to sellers.br /br /5. It is generally less risky to buy a completed house than a bare piece of land;br /br /6. It is generally less risky to buy property in a place exclusively developed by a real estate company.br /br /7. Be careful in choosing the house you want to buy. Some building contractors and real estate companies evidently did their training on chicken coops.br /br /8. Never pay money without getting a receipt for it.br /br /9. When you are certain of the genuineness of the seller of the property, you can sign a conveyance and pay off the remainder of the money.br /br /10. Take immediate steps to stamp and register your title documents.br /br /11. Always seek the advice of a lawyer with a solid reputation.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1318853238740553697-7593225761097494959?l=makolalaw.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

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MAKOLA LAW (6 unread)

Additional Note on Children's Rights

Do School Kids have Rights to Privacy, Respect, etc?

Taking a Loan in Ghana

Making a Will in Ghana

Maternity Leave

Acquiring a House in Ghana