Otumfuo hails release of Mahama gunman

The Asantehene has described the review of the conviction of the failed presidential assassin Charles Antwi as a victory for the rule of law in the country.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said the hasty manner in which the mentally unstable suspect was slapped with a 10-year jail term suggests that the case did not go through the required due process under the Ghanaian law.

“I was pleased only a few days ago to observe a further consolidation of the rule of law in a matter that may not have attracted the same degree of attention.

“…In this case, the due process would have required a thorough investigation into the state of mind of the person, having regards to the strange, even weird nature of his alleged confessions.

“The process further, would have demanded that he received appropriate legal representation, however grotesque his alleged crime before the law. This essential immutable process was not availed to the accused,” the Asantehene stated.

The mentally unstable gunman was last month released by an Accra Human Rights Court after he was initially slapped with a 10-year jail term by a magistrate court.

The judge in a certiorari order ruled that the 36-year-old man should be taken to the Psychiatric Hospital for treatment.

Antwi was apprehended when a member of the Ringway Gospel Center noticed his nervous and suspicious behaviour during church service.

A policeman and a member of the church escorted Antwi outside quietly in order not to disrupt the service.

A loaded and cocked pistol was found following a search on him.

It was not immediately clear why he had carried the fully loaded gun into the church.

President John Dramani Mahama and his family worship regularly at the Ringway Gospel Center but were not present in church when the incident occurred.