Three casual workers of the Akim State College at Akim Oda who broke into the school’s store room and stole bags of maize and rice estimated at 300 Ghana Cedis, have been slapped with a total of 108 months prison term in hard labour by the Akim Oda Magistrate Court.
Isaac Afadze, 21, Joe Eyah, 26 and Mamudu Salifu, 24, all casual labourers, will go to prison for 12 months in hard labour on each of the three counts of the charges preferred against them, to run consecutively.
The convicts were charged with conspiracy, unlawful entry and stealing.
Briefing the court presided over by Mr. Albert Owusu Annor, Police Detective Inspector Kwaku Appiah stated that, the complainant Mr. Yaw Asare Dzikunu, is Director of Akim State College, while Afadze, Eyah and Salifu were casual labourers whose job was the preparation of “banku” (local dish) for the students.
Inspector Appiah said for sometime now, the key to the kitchen store got missing and all efforts by the school matron to trace it proved futile, adding that during the same period the matron experienced series of theft of foodstuffs from the store room.
According to the prosecutor, on April 20 this year, the matron had a tip-off that Afadze, Eyah and Salifu were offering a bag of maize for sale.
He said the informant knew the convicts at the school. The matron reported the matter to the police and the police conducted a search in the room of the three where a bag of rice was retrieved.
Inspector Appiah said the bag of rice was identified by the matron as having been stolen from the school’s kitchen store; Afadze, Eyah and Salifu, together with the exhibit, were sent to the police station.**
