State prosecutors have alarmed the lack of funds to proceed with trial cases due to the Executive and Legislative branches refusal to give ears to the matter for the last four successive terms of court.
Making the disclosure during the opening of the November A.D. Term of Court for Criminal Courts “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D,” Grand Cape Mount County Attorney Nyonkpao R.G. Daye said the lack of prosecution fund is seriously hindering their work, as state lawyers have been using their personal salaries to prosecute cases, and are getting weary with such careless behavior from the Legislature and the Executive Branches of Government.
Cllr. Daye said they have cried and appealed to the government on many occasions but the Ministry of Justice have consistently played blind eyes to their plight.
“Imagine, the police don’t have vehicles in Grand Cape County to transport an accused person to court but rather those accused are transported to court on motorbikes due the failure of the government to provide vehicles to the police in the county,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cllr. Daye has appealed to the National Legislature to reallocate the prosecution funds component of the National Budget which they previously removed.
The Grand Cape Mount County Attorney said the removal of the prosecution fund has put them against the walls as it’s becoming even more strenuous to fairly perform their duties.
“No logistics, no prosecution fund, no stationary; how do we perform our duties in these conditions,” County Attorney Daye questioned the Legislature and Executive who want the rule of law to be adhered to.
According to him, prosecuting attorneys are in dying need of support of prosecution funds in order to have fair and impartial trials, saying, the rule of law is one of the agendas of the present government and it needs to be looked at critically.
More appallingly, Cllr. Daye said indictments are usually typed at commercial desktop publishing centers even though indictments should be documents only available to the courts and concerned legal practitioners. He used the occasion to urge magistrates to make use of the pre-bargaining law in order to decongest the prison facilities.
By T.Q. Lula Jaurey
