Under the banner headline: ” Tribunal members weren’t fit – Judicial Service”, the Ghanaian times reports that the Judicial Service yesterday explained that the regional tribunals at Cape Coast did not have full complements of panel members because the six names submitted by the Municipal Assembly were all disqualified. The disqualification followed investigations by the Bureau of National investigations (BNI) which revealed that the nominees were either above 64 years, had a criminal records or were fully employed elsewhere. This are factors which the constitution and the Court Act do not allow, the paper said. Mr Joseph Appiatse, personnel manager of the Judicial Service was reacting to a publication in the February 10 issue of the paper which stated that the two regional tribunals at Cape Coast were faced with shortage of panel members resulting in the lack of quorum at their sittings. In another headline “Hammer woman opens defence”, the paper says Rosemary Frimpong-Quartey, 29, the woman accused of murdering Nathaniel Quartey, her five-and-a-half- year old stepson, yesterday opened her defence. Led in evidence by William Oduro, her assigned brief, she told the court that the injury that led to Nathaniel’s death was caused by two bags which accidentally dropped on the boy from the top of a wardrobe near the place where he was sleeping. Asked what the bags contained, the accused replied that one contained men’s cloths and the other had watch and some jewels. According to the paper, that answer drew murmurs from the crowd. Rosemary is accused of beating the boy to death with a hammer.
