Judgement on KATH, Yeboah case on November 14
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 13 Nov. 2000
A Kumasi High Court has fixed Tuesday, November 14, for hearing the case in which authorities of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have been sued for general and special damages for negligence and carelessness, which resulted in the untimely death of Mr William Yeboah of Dormaa Ahenkro.
The writ, filed on behalf of the family by Mr Dennis Adjei and Mr Kwame Gyan-Kontoh of Holy Trinity Chambers in Kumasi, was also against the Ministry of Health and the Attorney General's Department.
In their statement of claim, the family said the deceased was admitted to the hospital in May/June 1997 to receive special medical treatment.
They said Yeboah was given a mattress, instead of the usual standing hospital bed, to sleep on the floor due to his condition.
It said whilst receiving treatment another patient was admitted to the hospital and offered a bed beside the deceased.
On June 8, 1997, most of the medical doctors and other hospital staff attended to the new patient and surrounded him for sometime. In the process, the hospital provided a cylinder filled with oxygen to administer same to the patient on the bed.
It said in the process of administering the oxygen to the patient, officials of the hospital negligently, carelessly and without due care caused the cylinder to fall on the deceased who was by then sleeping on the mattress on the floor.
The statement said the cause of death was certified by a medical doctor of the hospital to be severe injury and that the deceased's death was tragic, untimely and caused the family a lot of expenses.
The defendants in the statement filed on their behalf by Mr. Frank Komla Mensah, Assistant State Attorney, denied that the death of Mr Yeboah was the result of their carelessness.
GRi.. /
Gomoa Dawurampong(Central Region)
13 Nov. 2000
A twenty-five year old fisherman
from Anomabu in the Central Region, Kweku Bayeh, was on Thursday sentenced to
eight years in hard labour by the Gomoa Dawurampong Circuit Court presided over
by Mr. Justice P. K. Richardson for sodomy.
He pleaded guilty and was
sentenced accordingly.
The court had heard that the
accused arrived at Apam on the 24th of last month in search of a fishing boat
to work on board.
Bayeh last Tuesday met the victim,
an eleven-year old boy, at the beach and invited him to where the accused was
putting up to send him on an errand. The victim obliged but when they got
there, the accused said they should rest for a while because it was too sunny.
While sleeping on a mat, the
accused removed the underwear of the victim and had anal sex with him.
After the act, the accused told
the victim not to mention the affair to anyone but he reported his ordeal to
the owner of the boat the accused was working on and he was arrested with the
help of some fishermen and handed over to the police.
GRi./