Chaka Zulu’s Victim Cross-Examined

Clever Omwarihiren, the alleged robbery victim of Richard Kwabena, a former actor popularly known as Chaka Zulu, and his three other accomplices, during a robbery operation at Baatsona, a suburb of Accra, was yesterday cross-examined in an Accra High Court.

In a court presided over by Justice Charles Quist, George Assamaney, counsel for the fourth accused person, Paul Owusu, asked the victim how many people were in the house with him at the time of the alleged robbery, to which he answered that there were seven.

Other accused persons in the case include Abass Baba and Wise Gray.

The defence counsel asked the victim, also the complainant in the case, whether he was the one who chased Owusu and caught him.

Mr. Omwarihiren answered in the affirmative and added that he shouted for help and some Good Samaritans came and helped him arrest Owusu.

The counsel for the accused person, who wanted to know the exact place his client was arrested, was told by the witness that it was on a tarred road, but Mr. Assamaney disagreed with him.

According to Mr. Assamaney; Owusu was not arrested on a tarred road but on a small lane near a spot at Baatsona, where he had gotten drunk so could not resist arrest because of his drunken state. However, the complainant maintained that it was true that his client took part in the robbery.

In addition, counsel for Owusu put it to the complainant that he was the one, who after having the accused person arrested, took two laptops to the police station and alleged that the accused person, apart from the computers, also had cartridges on him.

Mr. Omwarihiren however maintained that he got the computer and cartridges from Owusu, but could not tell the court whether or not the accused person’s statement was taken.

The senior state attorney in the case, John Tulasi Ofori, prayed the court for a short adjournment of the case and it was adjourned to May 23, 2011.

Mr. Omwarihiren told the court in his evidence led by prosecuting attorney John Tulasi Ofori that he was at home in Baatsona on June 12, 2010, with his wife, when he heard a strange noise.

According to him, he told his wife to lock all the doors, which she did, but a couple of minutes later, he heard a sound, after which four guys, three of whom wore masks, entered the house and took him to the living room.

When asked whether he could identify the accused person, he answered in the affirmative and went ahead to identify the fourth accused person, Paul Owusu alias School Fees, adding that the fourth accused was the one without a mask.

The complainant said the accused persons demanded for money and he told them he did not have any but they managed to take away GH¢150, three laptops and a wristwatch from him.

Mr. Omwarihiren further noted that he heard his wife scream from one of the rooms near the living room and when he went to where she was, he found her lying down with some of the suspects standing around her.