Adams Mahama's wife sustained acid burns

The wife of the late Adams Mahama, Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), sustained serious acid burns and blisters from the acid which was poured on her husband, an Accra High Court has heard.

Sampson Sarpaa, a physician assistant at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, who said this noted that the woman attempted to help her husband who was wailing as a result of the acid poured on him and she held the late Mahama to herself resulting in the burns she sustained.

He is the 11th prosecution witness in the trial of Gregory Afoko who has been accused of allegedly murdering the late NPP official.

Led in his evidence-in-chief by Matthew Amponsah, a chief state attorney, the witness told the court that the widower, Hajia Zeinabu Adams, came to his consulting room on May 21, 2015 and he saw burns on the anterior parts of her chest, hands, breast and shoulder with blisters and fluid.

“I asked her what happened and she told me that on 20th May, 2015, her husband came home at night, packed his car outside and was wailing. She told me that when she went, she saw that they had poured some substance on the husband. She opened the car door and held the husband to herself to bring him out of the car. She said because of the acid that was poured on the husband, that is how she also got acid burns and the blisters”, the physician assistant told the court.

Mr. Sarpaa told the court that he then examined her, gave her medical treatment and later referred her to the surgical department because of the nature of the wound. “Some of them were deep”, he said.

Asked by the prosecutor whether the woman came to the hospital with a police medical form he said no but he treated her as her case was that of an emergency.

He continued: “At that time her life was in danger. She needed to relief herself of the pains and needed immediate medical attention that is why she came straight to the hospital. She later brought the police medical report and we gave the report on July 14, 2015. The report was given to the police.”

Cross-examination

The cross-examination by the defence led by Osafo Buabeng was focused on the witness’ qualification and whether he was in a position to have written that report.

Asked which medical school he attended, Mr. Sarpaa told the court that the school he attended is not a medical school but they do medical practice. He listed Central University, Kintampo and the University of Health and Allied Sciences as examples of such schools.

He noted that such practitioners are regulated by the Ghana Medical and Dental Council and are recognized to produce such reports.

The lawyer then identified a loophole in the report where the physician assistant indicated that ‘acid was poured on her’ (Hajia Zeinabu). But the witness said “that is really an error. It was as a result of the acid that was poured on the husband that resulted in the woman getting the burns or the blisters because she came into contact with him.”

The court presided over by Justice Lawrence L. Mensah discharged the witness and adjourned the matter to July 5, 2018.