Residents of Jirapa in the Upper West Region have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Wa High Court’s decision to halt proceedings in the murder trial of the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, Mr. Eric Johnson.
The court announced that it could not proceed with the case due to a claim by lawyers of the accused that the Chief Justice had directed that the case be transferred to Kumasi.
The decision did not go down well with members of the Jirapa community who were in court to witness proceedings.
Three people are standing trial for the gruesome murder of Mr. Johnson, who until his death was the CEO of the Royal Cosy Hills hotel.
State prosecutors, led by Saed Abdul Shakuur, and lawyers of the accused persons were present for the hearing to commence when the lead counsel for the accused persons, Clement Eledi, presented a letter to the court claiming that the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, had directed that the case be transferred to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for hearing.
The court halted proceedings to allow for confirmation of the letter from the office of the Chief Justice.
Principal State Attorney, Saed Abdul Shakuur, expressed surprise at the development, stating that the prosecution was ready to commence the trial with 11 witnesses, seven of whom are in Wa, and three are officers at the police regional headquarters.
“When we entered the court, the lawyer for the accused gave us a letter, purporting to be a letter from the CJ…instructing the district court to immediately transfer the matter to the high court in Kumasi. But I think that there’s more. We have 11 witnesses. Seven of them are in Wa.”
“Three are officers at the police regional headquarters. So, we intended to start the trial next week with the lawyers and we have since had conferences with everybody, we have filed witness cases and everything and so the case was about to start until this happened.”
Some residents of Jirapa who were in court to witness proceedings said they would fiercely resist any decision to transfer the case to Kumasi. One resident questioned the content of the petition that generated the Chief Justice’s directive.
He stated that if the petition was written by the mother of the accused, it meant that the person who generated the petition had an interest in the matter, and therefore, the indigenous people of Jirapa also had an interest in the matter.
The residents are concerned that transferring the case to Kumasi would be an injustice, as the murder took place in Jirapa, and they would have to travel to Kumasi for every hearing, which would be inconvenient and costly.
They are demanding that the case be heard in Wa, where the crime was committed.
