General News of Friday, 2 April 2004

Source: GNA

'Juju' cannot influence any judgement- Magistrate

Nkawie (Ash), April 2, GNA- Mr Beresford Safo Acquah, the Magistrate at the Nkawie District court in the Atwima District has stated that 'juju' cannot influence him to give judgement in favour of anybody. The Magistrate's comment was prompted by a complainant at the court who said a defendant in a defamation case was spreading news that he would use 'juju' to charm the magistrate to give judgement in his favour.
Nana Aboagye and his wife, Sarah Aboagye, the plaintiffs, jointly and severally filed a suit at the court against Yaw Sallam, claiming damages of one million cedis for defamation. The defendant was alleged to have, on January 29, this year, publicly declared at Koben that Nana Aboagye was impotent and that his wife was a prostitute, children he had with his wife were not his biological children and that his wife was impregnated by some other men.
The defendant, Yaw Salaam failed to appear in court when the case was first called and so the Magistrate asked that the parties and the assemblyman for Koben where the incident took place should come to court on March 15, but the defendant and the assemblyman failed to respond to the summons.
Following the refusal of the defendant and the assemblyman to appear in court, judgement was entered in favour of the plaintiffs and cost of 200,000 cedis awarded against the defendant.