Court activities in Ghana have ground to a halt following indefinite strike action announced by judicial service staff on Thursday over demands for salary increases and unpaid arrears.
An association for the staff members has directed all employees of the service not to report to work, leaving the usually busy courts across the country empty.
Court registrars have been advised not to open or be compelled to open any court for use during the period of the strike until President Nana Akufo-Addo approves the strikers’ demands.
“This is a total shutdown… there will be court delays, nobody is there to open the courts, trials will have to be postponed,” legal practitioner Fred Aboagye Kasapa told the BBC.
Calls have intensified for workers to not go ahead with the strike which has entered its second day, but their leadership insist the industrial action continues.
This strike action is set to add to the backlog of cases which observers say will negatively affect the country’s delivery of justice.