THE lack of police prosecutors in the Upper West Region (UWR) is affecting the justice delivery system in the region, since there is only one prosecutor attached to all the district magistrate courts and the two circuit courts.
The circuit courts are in Wa and Lawra, while the magistrates’ courts are located at Jirapa, Tumu, Nandom and Wa.
To operate under the circumstances, the courts have adopted a shift system, with the circuit and magistrates’ court judges moving from Wa on particular days to adjudicate on cases in the other towns.
Daily Graphic investigations in Wa revealed that the situation had existed since 2006, thus defeating efforts being made to bring justice to the doorstep of the people.
This situation means that cases are not tried quickly because the workload on the only police prosecutor is beyond him.
According to the investigations, the problem was compounded when the senior police courts officer was transferred from the region without a replacement.
"It is not deliberate, as prosecution is an area where there should be good training of officers,” a source said.
It said it was aware that forensic and ballistic results before some of the courts had since 2002 not been received from Accra.
Corroborating the story, the Upper West Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr Alex Bedie, who took office a few months ago, said measures were being put in place to improve the situation.
"It is one of my priority areas which I am about communicating to the Police Headquarters for redress,” he added.
He said with the exception of the Principal State Attorney who deals with high-profile cases, others were handled by the only prosecutor.
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