Deceased Driver's mate refused bail for the
fifth time
Man jailed for
offering nephew for sale
Deceased Driver's mate refused bail for the
fifth time
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 December 2000
A tribunal on Wednesday denied bail for the fifth time to the accomplice of the Nissan Urvan bus driver accused of causing the death of four presidential guards on the Accra Tema motorway on October 29.
Tribunal Chairman Mr Ziblim Moru adjourned to December 20, the case of Samuel Cudjoe, mate, of the late driver Daniel Dawutey Chakitey. He died on Friday at the police hospital.
In his ruling, Mr Moru said his tribunal has no jurisdiction to try the case, and he earlier had advised Cudjoe's counsel to seek bail at a higher court. He said Cudjoe's counsel declined to do so.
"We as a court have to run minor errands for the high courts by remanding persons but have no jurisdiction to try certain charges levelled against accused persons," Mr Moru said.
The tribunal said the case has become a national issue, and he must depend on the Attorney General's (AG) office for advice.
Mr. Moru also refused defence counsel's request to release the Nissan Urvan bus, saying the AG's department might need the vehicle for further investigations.
Mr. John Klu, counsel for the two accused men, said in his application for bail on Tuesday for Cudjoe, that the police charge sheet did not specify what role he played in controlling the vehicle.
Cudjoe is charged with abetment of negligently causing harm and manslaughter. He is accused of being in the bus with driver Chakitey when the vehicle crossed the motor way, endangering the life of President Rawlings and causing a crash that killed four of his bodyguards.
Relatives and friends of the accused men sat through the hearing and left the court in dejection. The 30-year-old driver died from diarrhoea whiles in police custody, according to Dr. E. Owusu-Afriyie, medical director of the police hospital. Chakitey's family asked for a private inquest.
GRi…/
Man jailed for
offering nephew for sale
Tarkwa (Western Region) 14
December 2000
Kwesi Agyei, farmer, 22, was on
Wednesday jailed seven years in hard labour by a Circuit Court, at Tarkwa, for
offering his eight-year-old nephew for sale at 30 million cedis. The court,
presided over by Mr. Isaac Lartey-Young convicted Agyei on his own plea.
Police Chief Inspector Lydia
Vondee told the court that on June 26, Agyei took Yaw Barima, the little boy,
out to town at Sehwi Asawinso, while the parents were not at home.
She said Agyei first approached
Kofi Nkuah, a barber, at Asawinso to contact a Malam who had expressed interest
in the deal, but failed.
Nkuah accompanied the accused to
Dwenase, near Sehwi Wiawso, the following day under the pretext of helping him
find a prospective buyer.
Kofi Alhassan and Taller, both
friends of Nkuah posed as buyers and gave the accused 10 thousand cedis as
lorry fare to bring the boy from Asawinso the next day, but in his absence they
alerted the police.
The accused offered to sell the
boy at 30 million cedis, but while the two friends were bargaining to beat down
the price at a hideout, Nkuah called in the police and Agyei was arrested. The
boy has since been handed over to his parents.
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