Some newly recruited jurors have joined proceedings at Criminal Court 1 of the High Court in Accra, despite an ongoing strike by their senior counterparts over unpaid allowances, Citi News can confirm.
According to Citi News sources, the jurors are reportedly newly recruited and were engaged less than a month ago to strengthen the existing panel and address gaps in the judicial system.
The jurors present on Tuesday, June 3, sat through the high-profile case involving the alleged murder of two children in Abesim, Bono Region, in 2021.
Jurors at the Accra High Court announced the withdrawal of their services effective Monday, June 2, citing the non-payment of their allowances for the past eight months.
According to the group, several attempts to retrieve their payments have yielded no results. Despite formally notifying the Acting Chief Justice of their intended absence, they said they have not received any concrete assurance regarding when the arrears will be settled.
In an interview with Citi News on Tuesday, June 3, one of the striking jurors, Joshua Alorgbey, maintained that their return to duty hinges on a satisfactory response from the authorities.
“Because they know what they are doing, while recruiting new jurors secretly from us, they separated them from our main platform so they wouldn’t know the reality of what is happening at the court.
“As we speak now, the new ones are also agitating about what is happening, asking whether they will be treated the same way the others are being treated.
“You cannot be coming there with your own money. So the new jurors, as we speak now, we will hear from them also. The treatment they are giving us is very unfair,” he added.
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