5 Boys arrested for sakawa

Five teenagers residing at New Takoradi, a fishing community in the Sekondi-Takoradi, have been arrested by the police for their alleged attempt to use the father of one of them for ritual money, popularly known as ‘sakawa’.

The suspects are George Williams, 17; Joseph Enuson, 17; Joseph Sarpey, 17; Degraft Dankwa, 16, and Samuel Armoo, 15.

According to the police, since the Takoradi District Command does not have a juvenile cell, the teenagers have been granted bail and handed over to their parents.

ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), confirmed the story to DAILY GUIDE in an interview.

She indicated that on April 3, 2017, one of the teenagers, George Williams, served his father, Anthony Williams, a meal and in the course of eating the food, the father felt some funny taste in the meal.

“So Anthony Williams confronted the wife and later his 17-year-old son who confessed putting some quantity of the chemical used for cleaning bathrooms in the meal,” she mentioned.

According to the boy, he, together with the other four, went to see a certain malam at Effiakuma New Site, near Takoradi, to help them make more money within the shortest possible time.

The said malam gave George Williams a ring to wear, with an instruction that if he loses the ring, he must kill his father to start making money. On their way back home, the ring got lost and so George Williams allegedly decided to kill his biological father.

He purportedly mixed his father’s meal with the chemical, popularly known as ‘akasha’, but the father was able to detect the alleged poison in his food just after tasting some. Some elders and residents were called to interrogate George Williams, who admitted the purported crime, revealing that he wanted to use his father for money rituals as directed by the malam.

The father later reported the case to the Takoradi Police, leading to the arrest of George Williams and his alleged accomplices.

ASP Olivia Adiku pointed out that the teenagers on bail are to report to the police on regular basis, while the said malam who is currently on the run is being searched for by the police.