Driver, mate involved in 'presidential accident'
refused bail again
Woman accused of killing stepson
Rapist remanded in custody for sentence
Driver, mate involved in 'presidential
accident' refused bail again
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 November 2000
The driver and his mate standing trial for causing an accident, which resulted in the death of four presidential guards on the Accra-Tema motorway, have been refused bail again.
Driver Daniel Dawutey Chakitey, 30, is charged with manslaughter and negligently causing harm, while his mate, Samuel Cudjoe, is charged with abetting.
The Accra circuit tribunal, which refused them bail on their second appearance on Thursday, adjourned the case to Tuesday, November 28.
The adjournment follows the absence in court of the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Edward Antwi, who reported sick. The tribunal, chaired by Mr. Ziblim Moru, did not take their plea.
In an application for bail, defence counsel Mr John Klu and Mr T. J. Kumi, said the continued detention of their clients violates their constitutional rights in view of the long time the Attorney-General's Department usually takes in processing cases.
"There are some dockets which have been with the Attorney-General for more than eight months," said Mr Klu.
Quoting Article 14 sub-section 4 of the constitution, Mr. Klu said: "Where a person is arrested, restricted or detained and is not tried within a reasonable time, he shall be released either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions,..."
Mr Klu said, "If something is not done about the matter, the likelihood of the docket seeing the light of the day is remote".
"The law is no respecter of persons", he said. "The accused persons, who are citizens of the state, should also be protected by the constitution."
He said the accused persons are prepared to abide by any bail conditions of the court. The prosecution said at the earlier hearing that Chakitey, driving an Urvan mini bus on October 29, crossed the presidential convoy on the motorway without caution, causing a fatal accident in which four presidential guards were killed.
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Woman accused of killing stepson
Aflao (Volta Region) 24 November 2000
A woman who beat her two-and- a- half-year-old stepson, resulting in his death for stealing soup, was on Thursday remanded in prison custody when she appeared before the Aflao Circuit court on a provisional murder charge.
Remanded with Dzigbordi Akpalu, 22, was her husband, 39-year-old farmer Agbeko Afertorgbor who is charged for abetting crime.
Agbeko is being held for collaborating with his wife to bury the deceased to conceal her crime. Their plea was not taken and they will re-appear on December 6.
Police Inspector Kofi Frimpong told the court presided over by Mr Francis Opoku that Afetorgbor who had divorced the mother of his child, Nicholas Afertorgbor, took custody of him after he married Dzigbordi.
He said late last year, Dzigbordi, who returned from town to meet Nicholas, enjoying soup she had reserved for supper, got angry and beat the boy till he collapsed.
The prosecution said the landlord and some neighbours resuscitated the boy and later reported the conduct of Dzigbordi to the police.
He said Dzigbordi and Afertorgbor sent the boy to hospital at Tokoin in the Republic of Togo, where he died the following day.
Inspector Frimpong said the accused persons informed the Aflao police a day later that the boy had been treated and discharged and sent to his mother at Aneho, also in Togo.
The accused persons returned to Togo and started preparations for the burial of Nicholas but someone from Togo informed the Aflao police about the matter and with the assistance of the Togo authorities the accused persons were arrested.
An autopsy conducted by the Tokoin hospital indicated that the boy died from unnatural cause.
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Rapist remanded in custody for sentence
Nkawkaw (Eastern Region) 24 November 2000
Kwame Opoku a 22-year-old driver, who raped a 17 year-old fishmonger, was on Wednesday remanded in custody by the Nkawkaw Community Tribunal for sentence on November 27.
Opoku, alias Soldier, pleaded guilty to a charge of rape. The tribunal chaired by Mr William Boampong heard that on November 14, the complainant, Madam Aba Sande sent the victim, who is her grand daughter, to wash clothes at a nearby well at Asuagya, a suburb of Nkawkaw. He said Opoku lured the girl into his room and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her.
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