Witness reveals "Assasin's" true identity

Accra, April 7 GNA - The real name of Thomas Osei, the man who drove into the President's car, is Kamal-Din Mohammed, alias Baaba, a Police Investigator attached to the BNI, told the Accra High Court on Monday.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Adjei Agyemang, who investigated the background and profile of the accused, said the wife of the accused was Hajia Doe.

Led in evidence by Mr Edward Agyemang Doudu, Principal State Attorney, ASP Agyemang said during interrogation the accused revealed that he sought political asylum in Japan on a Liberian passport bearing the name of Johnny Kwamina Doe.

He said while the accused was in Japan, he met a Ghanaian, Thomas Osei, who had a passport with multiple visas, bought it, changed the photograph and adopted that person's particulars.

ASP Agyemang said later the accused reported to the Japanese authorities that he had lost his passport bearing the name Thomas Osei for them to provide him with new one with visas to enable him to stay in that country.

He said his investigations revealed that the accused attended school in Cape Coast but his claims of obtaining a bachelor's degree in Political Science from a Cairo University and a Master's degree in International Relations in the United States were false. He said the investigation showed that the accused was a contractor who performed the sub-contracts for the Japanese construction company that worked on the Kasoa-Yamoransa highway.

ASP Agyemang also corroborated some of the evidence given by Deputy Superintendent of Police Cosmos Allan Anyan of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters that the accused was an "occasional" user of cocaine and that the last time he used the drug was a day before the accident.

He said the accused told them that he obtained GH cedis 20 worth of supply from Accra Newtown and used the drug for sexual enhancement and as a painkiller.

He said based on the answers provided by the accused, Dr Nana Okine Brako, a medical officer of the Bureau of National Investigations, asked that he should provide a sample of his urine.

ASP Agyemang said he stood behind Dr Brako and Osei in the bathroom while the accused was asked to volunteer a sample of the urine for the medical test. This was done and the medical kit was sealed in their presence.

ASP Agyemang also said during a search of the house of the accused at Kisseman they did not find anything incriminatory so the team proceeded to his office at Dworwulu but they were unable to open cabinets because one Mr J.T. Wilson, the accused person's business partner, had locked them. Mr Kwame Boafo Akuffo, Counsel for Osei, during cross-examination of ASP Agyemang, said the witness had been brought to the court to concoct stories against his client. Mr Akuffo said the witness, who was an intelligence officer, had failed in his duty to check whether Dr Brako, who came in his private car, did not bring foreign material to contaminate the urine of the accused.

Osei, 51, a businessman, has been charged with five counts of motor traffic offences, use of narcotic drugs and failing to change ownership of the vehicle.

The charges are dangerous driving, negligently causing harm, driving under the influence of alcohol, failing to give way to Presidential siren and the use of narcotic drugs. The President escaped unhurt. Osei has pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against him and is on remand. The case was adjourned to April 10, this year. 7 April 08