Wa Judge fumes; will no longer tolerate flimsy excuses by police CID


Presiding High Court judge in Wa, his lordship, Justice Kwasi Boakye has warned he will no longer tolerate flimsy excuses by the police Criminal Investigations Department.

The department, he noted, has gained notoriety for failing to produce investigators in court with the excuse that the investigator has gone on transfer, dead or retired.

Justice Boakye said such excuses will no longer be tolerated.

He stated that the police service does not die, neither does it go on transfer nor retirement.

He added if original investigators are not available, immediate replacements should be found and cases reassigned to other investigators for trial to proceed smoothly.

Justice Boakye gave the warning at a ceremony to start the criminal assizes in the Upper West Region.

Criminal Assizes on the legal calendar is a period during which persons accused of serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape amongst others are tried by a high court judge sitting with a seven member panel known as the jury.

The jury is made up of men and women from the community who takes a decision as to the guilt of the accused persons or otherwise after the judge has summed up the evidence and had given them directions on the law and how to arrive at a verdict.

The Supervising Wa high court judge, his lordship Justice Kwasi Boakye posited that for the cases to be successful all the stakeholders must not only be proactive but must also cooperate with each other.

After castigating the police CID for their untenable excuses, the judge turned to the jury and admonished them not to use the opportunity to enhance their economic situation.

”Any of you who think that it is an opportunity to enhance your economic situation is in the wrong place and should stay away after this ceremony. Otherwise, he or she stands the chance of finding himself or herself been put before his peers on trial elsewhere,” he warned.

Deputy state attorney for the Upper West Region, Abdul Shakur Saeed on behalf of his outfit pledged to quicken the pace of prosecution and also ensure that justice is delivered to all suspects who would be brought before them.

He called on colleague members of the bar to join hands to ensure that the suspects get a fair trial

”Without you (lawyers) we cannot make any meaningful step. Mindful of the fact the indictable crimes cannot be tried without counsel and most of the persons who happen to fall foul are persons who have neither means nor wherewithal to engage the services of lawyers.

I want to encourage my colleagues to take it upon themselves and remember that our calling is for God and country,” he concluded.

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