Prosecutors, lawyers, litigants and relatives of accused standing trial, at the Ofaakor Circuit Court, in Kasoa, the Central Region, have complained of the absence of a presiding judge at the court.
This follows the promotion of the substantive judge, Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, to the High Court, and his subsequent departure on Friday, September 30, this year.
Consequently, all ongoing cases in the court have stalled, fresh cases are on hold while accused and remand prisoners are all locked up in cells.
A source close to the Court, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on condition of anonymity, expressed frustration at the situation, indicating that it affected the work of the police, lawyers and all other parties.
“The court is really frustrated; we are all frustrated. It is affecting the cases that the police are doing in Kasoa and its environs. Remand prisoners are all locked up in cells and as we all know, Kasoa is a busy place,” the source said.
It said since the court could not be closed, people only went to seek adjournments of case from the clerks, at the detriment of litigants and accused.
Relatives of some accused had accused the court of subjecting their relatives to injustice by keeping them in cells unduly.
The source, therefore, appealed to the Ghana Judicial Service to immediately provide the court with a judge.
The source said “Relatives are complaining bitterly, the lawyers are not happy and our workload keeps piling up. Honestly, they think the wheel of justice has grounded to a halt here.
“Our appeal is for the state to give us a substantive judge as soon as possible to help us do our work and reduce everybody’s burden”.
