Court jails galamsey operator for robbery

Nathaniel Cudjoe Sosu, a ‘Galamsey’ Operator, was on Tuesday sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Mr Francis Obiri.

Nathaniel pleaded not guilty to the charge but was found guilty by the court after going through full trial.

Madam Esi Dentaa Yankah, Assistant State Attorney, presenting the facts of the case, told the court that the complainant, Mensah Kovi Kwame is a taxi driver who lives in Accra, while the convict is a ‘galamsey’ operator residing at Bonsa-Tarkwa in the Western Region.

She said on December 12, 2011, the complainant was cruising for passengers in a Nissan Almera taxi with registration number GS 6010-10, when the convict and two other young men stopped him at the police hospital bus stop near Danquah Circle.

The prosecution said they asked the complainant to take them to M-Plaza Hotel at Roman Ridge, and on reaching PAWA House near the said hotel, the convict and his two accomplices forced the complainant to hand over the taxi by threatening him with a gun and knife.

Mandam Yankah told the court that they drove the taxi away and left the complainant behind but the convict was arrested when he and the taxi were traced to Bonsa in the Western Region.