Striking jurors in the Ashanti region say they would not resume work at the High Courts despite government paying part of their outstanding arrears.
Comprising persons well vexed in the judiciary system, the jurors decide the guilt or innocence of accused persons in serious criminal and civil cases that come up for trial following their indictment.
But the Judicial Service has since March 2022, failed to pay their allowances, which are calculated based on the number of hearings attended.
The absence of the jurors has affected criminal assizes in the high courts in the region, including the case in which a police inspector is accused of killing his girlfriend at Adum in Kumasi.
The government on Tuesday, November 14, released funds for the payment of 2022 arrears.
But the jurors have described the payment as peanut, insisting they will only resume work upon receipt of all outstanding arrears.
The General Foreman of the jurors, Albert Ackah claimed the government would relax its resolve to settle the arears if they resumed work.
“This three months or four months the government is paying them, government will relax saying oh I have paid them. So they are expecting all arrears to be paid before they come back to court,” he noted.
According to him, only a show of commitment from the government will get the striking jurors to resume duties.
“We were expecting that after the legal vacation, they will be given something but after the legal vacation there is nothing…We had a meeting on November 2 and we agreed that until we receive our allowance, they can’t come to court,” he said.