Ansa Asare Case: Witness' Burgled & Threatened

Prime witness in Ansa-Asare probe burgled
... Documents stolen, but cash untouched

The vehicle of Mr. Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, the prime witness before the committee investigating the Director of the Ghana School of Law (GSL), Mr. Kwaku Ansa-Asare was last Tuesday, burgled by unidentified persons.

The burglars took away his bag containing documents he had intended to tender in evidence to assist the committee in its fact-finding mission on the allegations against Mr. Ansa-Asare. However, an unspecified amount that was in the Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle was left intact.


Mr. Opoku-Agyemang told the committee yesterday, that notwithstanding the burglary that took place at Asylum Down, he was not perturbed at all to submit more documents, since besides the documents stolen, he had more hidden in the car.


At this stage, Mr. Ansa-Asare, who had appeared before the committee was quick to ask whether Mr. Opoku-Agyemang was trying to associate the burglary with him but when the witness responded in the negative, he expressed his sympathy to the witness. The witness quickly retorted however that his sympathy was not needed.


Narrating the incident to the committee, Mr. Opoku-Agyemang said he had spotted a Nissan saloon car parked at the extreme end of the compound of the Law School, and alerted the school security personnel on duty.


He said around 6:15 pm, he decided to leave for home and upon noticing that the car he had earlier seen at the school compound was trailing him, decided to turn in the opposite direction to his usual route, swerving the driver and other vehicles in the process.

According to him, sensing danger, he decided not to head straight home, but visit his friends at Asylum Down.


He said after spending less than forty-five minutes with his friends, he returned to notice that his car had been tampered with.


He said he realised that his bag, in which he had carried documents presented to the committee earlier in the day, as well as some other few valuable ones, had been taken away.


Mr. Opoku-Agyemang said he had hidden most of the documents under the driver?s seat and the rest in his car boot.


After narrating his ordeal to the committee, most of the lecturers who wanted to tender evidence, started dashing in for their briefcases since they didn?t want to be victimized.

Another lecturer, hearing the burglary story, after expressing his sympathies to his colleague, quickly dashed from the Supreme Court building, where the committee is sitting, to retrieve his bag from the GSL car park, saying he would not part with his bag, even if he had to attend to nature?s call.


Asked if he suspected Mr. Ansa-Asare could be behind the burglary, he said no.


Mr. Ansa Asare is being probed, following various allegations of mal-administration of the law school, fraud, conflicts of interest, involving him as Director of GSL and owner of Read Wide Bookshop.

My life is under threat - Petitioner

Accra, Aug. 24, GNA - Mr Maxwell Opoku Agyeman, a Senior Lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, who has been giving evidence before a five-member Commission of Enquiry investigating allegations of misconduct of office against Mr Ansa-Asare, Director of the Ghana School of Law (GSL), on Thursday said he believed his life was under threat.

Mr Agyeman, who was making his second appearance before the Commission said not long after he had given his first round of evidence on the case on Tuesday, August 23 2005, his car was broken into around Asylumn Down in Accra and documents containing evidence on the case taken away.
He said although he had money in the car, it was not taken away. Mr. Agyeman said around 1800 while he sat in his parked car, a Mitsubishi Pajero near the Ghana Law School in Accra, he saw a Grey Nissan whose registration he only saw as ER without the remaining digits, parked behind him.
He said suspecting that the car might be tailing him, he took off and finally parked in an area within Asylum Down. Mr Agyeman said after leaving the car for a while, he came back to realise that someone had forcefully entered the car by damaging the right side and taken away documents which contained evidence to back his petition.
He said it was important that the Commission took note of this development since it had to do with his security as a person, adding that he believed it was linked to his claims against the GSL Director. Mr Agyeman however, acknowledged that the happening could be a mere co-incidence and said due to measures he had taken, the incident was in no way going to affect his ability to give evidence on the case.
Mr Agyeman made his second appearance before the Commission to which he has been giving evidence indicating that Mr Asare's administration is fraught with autocratic and corrupt practices. Sitting by the Commission continues on Thursday. 24 Aug 05