Sunyani High Court jurors have gone on strike over unpaid allowances for transportation, court attendance, and sitting.
The strike action has resulted in the suspension of all high-profile cases in the Bono Region, including murder, rape, and robbery, among others.
The jurors claimed that their allowances have been in arrears since March 2022, prompting their strike action.
They stated in a letter to the Registrar of the Sunyani High Court that the withdrawal of service began on April 25, 2023.
The letter was copied to the Supervising High Court Judge, the Administrator of the Judicial Service, Bono Region and the Principal State Attorney.
“In view of the non-payment of the attendance and sitting allowances, the Jurors of the Sunyani High Court formally write to withdraw our services till the allowances are paid,” according to a portion of the letter sighted by DAILY GUIDE.
A member of the jury noted that, although being government employees, they travel to the High Court to hear cases and thus are required to be reimbursed.
“We prepare monthly returns and submit them so that they are paid by the end of the month, but the government has been ignoring its obligation for more than a year,” the aggrieved juror said.
He asserted that as sitting is suspended now, it means all criminal cases or indicted cases including murder, robbery, and rape cannot be tried.
FROM Daniel Y Dayee, Sunyani