The murder case involving Otumfuo Osei Tutu’s Akyempimhene and eight other murder and rape cases at the High Court in Kumasi have ground to a halt due to a strike by jurors in the Ashanti region.
Jurors have once again halted court proceedings due to unpaid allowances.
This strike mirrors a similar action taken in November 2023, which ended after Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo pledged to resolve their arrears following discussions in Kumasi.
Despite assurances of timely payments for future allowances, the issue remains unresolved several months later.
The current strike is due to outstanding allowances from August 2023 to May 2024, causing significant financial strain on the jurors.
The general foreman for the jurors in the Ashanti region, Albert Ackah reiterated their plea for the government to release funds to the judicial service for settlement of their arrears.
“Yes, it is true that we are unable to come to court because of our allowance. Our allowances always delay until we take action before we receive our allowance. This is not good; it is not proper for us to always chase our allowance before we get it.
“Today, we have nine cases and because we couldn’t come due to non-payment of our allowance, the cases couldn’t come on. So please, I am appealing to the government to release money to the judicial service, so that they can pay their jurors so that they can return to court. Nobody ever should say that it is the jurors who delay the cases.
“So, this small, tiny allowance that we receive here, why always we need to follow, talk until these allowances are received?
The Chief Justice during her meeting with the jurors encouraged them to use their salaries from their respective works to fund their transportation to work, since the majority of them are public sector workers, while they wait for the disbursement of their allowances.
The jurors are, however, expressing displeasure over that statement insisting that the works are distinctively different hence, they want prompt payment of their arrears to fund their transportation to court.
“Most of them were in the jury system before they retired. They are receiving only a retirement package, or better still, their pension salary. They are using this money to upkeep their houses and their homes.”
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