By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Garden City, New York
June 11, 2015
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
It is a story that we intend to studiously follow to the end. Hopefully, some form of condign justice will be cathartically exacted from the acid-dousing assassins of Mr. Adams Mahama, the former Upper-East's regional chairman of Ghana's the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). So far, two suspects are being held in police custody in Accra, Ghana's capital, nearly 500 miles away from the scene of the crime. The suspects are Mr. Gregory Afoko, 50, described as a farmer and the younger brother of the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Paul Afoko; and Mr. Musah Issah, described as a driver, who may well have driven the suspects to the crime scene. The age of Mr. Issah, whose last name is sometimes interchanged with his first name of Musah, is not given. At least I have not come across it in most of the news reports that I have read.
There is, of course, a third suspect by the name of Mr. Asabke Alangdi whose age, as well, is not given but who is alleged to have collaborated with the younger Mr. Afoko to fatally douse Mr. Adams Mahama with, perhaps, a gallon or more of liquid acid. Mr. Alangdi is reported to be on the lam with his wife whose name has also not been publicly revealed, but who circumstantially appears to be linked to the crime. It is also significant to observe that the couple is reported to have left behind a one-and-half-year-old baby of unspecified gender. As of this writing, it is not known who has taken custody of Baby Alangdi.
Mr. Issah or Musah, the dear reader can pick his/her choice, is so far charged with criminal abetment; he is alleged to have purchased the "chemical weapon" which was used to murder Mr. Adams Mahama. The lawyer for both men, Mr. Adjei-Mensah, is reported to be claiming Mr. Issah/Musah to be innocent of all the charges preferred against the latter by the prosecutor, Superintendent of Police (SP), Mr. Francis Baah. Mr. Adjei-Mensah hopes to prove to Magistrate/Judge Worlanyo Kotoku that at the time that Mr. Issah/Musah is alleged to have purchased the liquid acid used to fatally douse Mr. Adams Mahama, his client was nowhere to be found in or near the vicinity of the crime.
It will be very intriguing to follow how Attorney Adjei-Mensah gets to deliberately unravel the case being built against his client. Counsel also claims that his client is being denied his inalienable right to freedom because an anonymous source claiming to be privy to either the conspiracy or commission of the crime had identified Mr. Issah/Musah as the one who purchased the weapon of choice. Even more intriguing is how Mr. Adjei-Mensah gets to dismantle the charges brought against the prime suspect, Mr. Gregory Afoko, who also claims to have an airtight alibi removing him from the scene of the crime at the very moment during which it is alleged to have been committed.
Mr. Adjei-Mensah is reported to have said that investigators are being exceptionally hard on Mr. Gregory Afoko, because the latter is widely known to be the brother of the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party. There well may be some iota of credibility to this claim, except for the equally significant fact that the younger Mr. Afoko is a known criminal convict who is alleged to have served considerable time in prison; he is also known to have established an arm-twisting vigilante organization to protect his elder brother and the latter's associates, as well as "take care" of the political rivals, opponents and enemies of the NPP's National Chairman.
Lawyer Adjei-Mensah's reported submission in Magistrate Kotoku's court on or about June 9, gave an unmistakable hint of the fact that in both Messrs. Afoko and Alangdi the police may well have the right prime suspects to the crime. In other words, Mr. Adjei-Mensah seems to firmly believe that the charges brought against Mr. Musah Issah by the prosecution is the weakest among the three separate charges brought against his three clients. Counsel claims that the prosecution has woefully failed to link Mr. Issah to Messrs. Afoko and Alangdi vis-a-vis the brutal acid-dousing of Mr. Adams Mahama, except for the all-too-tangential fact of Mr. Issah's being a registered member of the New Patriotic Party like the two prime suspects. It is also not quite clear why all three defendants are being represented by Lawyer Adjei-Mensah.
The next appearance of Messrs. Afoko and Issah is scheduled for June 23. This is the day that Judge Kotoku is set to give his ruling on bail applications for the two suspects. Superintendent Baah, speaking for the prosecution, quoted Section 96(7) of Ghana's Criminal Code and emphasized that the severity of the case before the court necessitated the prompt and summary denial of bail bonds for the accused. Well, we are studiously watching and will let you know our opinion on this watershed case in due course.
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