Tamale High Court sentences 21-year-old farmer to death by hanging

A High Court sitting in Tamale and presided over by Mr Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah has sentenced one Kwadwo Sambili ;a 21 year old farmer of Kumdi village near Kpandai, to death by hanging for the murder of one Grace Masambi Bakamba.

The facts of the case are that the deceased went to the bank of river Dakar on 31st October, 2009 with her two sisters to wash their clothes.

In the course of washing, the convict arrived and told the deceased that he will cause her to drown, a threat the deceased and her sisters did not take seriously.

Moments after making the threat the convict seized the deceased, carried her on his shoulder and dashed for the river amidst struggle and protest from the deceased that she could not swim.

The sisters of the deceased who were helpless started wailing and pleading with the convict not to carry the deceased into the river because she did not know how to swim but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Kwadwo Sambili carried the deceased to the deepest part of the river and immersed her but in an effort to save herself, she held unto the shirt of the convict hoping that he will save her but the convict simply freed himself by removing his shirt which was left in the hands of the deceased and was swept away by a swift current.

The convict was reported to have swam out of the river and not even pleas from the deceased’s sisters that he should rescue the deceased moved him.

Members of the community later organized divers to search for the deceased’s body but the search proved futile as the body could not be located until the next day when it was found.

The Convict was subsequently arrested and after further investigation the he was charged with one count of murder.

At the end of the case a seven member jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty.