2020 WASSCE: Seven persons remanded for impersonation

The Agona Swedru Magistrate Court has remanded seven persons including three SHS 2 students of the Ngleshie Amanfrom Senior High School into police custody for impersonation in the ongoing West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).

The accused persons are Osman Ahmed, an administrator at Central High School, Clement Sarfo, unemployed, and two S.H.S 2 Business students of Ngleshie Amanfrom Senior High School (names withheld) were charged with impersonation.

The rest who have been charged with abetment to commit crime, (impersonation), are Richard Nkrumah alias Emperor, a teacher at Ngleshie Amafrom Senior High School who doubles as the Assistant Headmaster, Central Senior High School and Cedric Sefah Acheampong, also a teacher at Central Senior High School, based in Agona Swedru.

Their pleas were not taken after the initial facts were read to them and were subsequently remanded into police custody to reappear in court on August 28, 2020 for hearing to continue. The prosecution had prayed the court to remand them as investigation was still ongoing.

WAEC inspection
The facts of the case as presented by the prosecution led by Inspector Chare N. Salia were that on Monday, August 17, 2020, when Senior High School students were writing the 2020 WASSCE, a team of W.A.E.C officials led by George Agyekum, the complainant were going round the various Senior High Schools within Agona Swedru and its environs to check the students.

According to him, the team upon reaching the Swedru Senior High School centre decided to conduct a check for impersonators and during the check at the class of students from Central High School, the students were asked to mention their various index numbers individually for verification.

He noted that further checks from the verification machine indicated that the accused had impersonated candidates.

Admission of offense
He stated that the accused persons were arrested and during interrogation a number of them admitted that they were contracted to impersonate some candidates in order to write the WASSCE core subjects for them.

He added that on August 3, 2020, they successfully wrote Integrated Science, on August 6, 2020, they wrote Social Studies and on August 17, 2020, after writing Paper Two of Core Mathematics and were in the process of writing Paper One, they were arrested.

He said on August 20, 2020, Richard Nkrumah and Cedric Sefah Acheampong who were at large were arrested, admitted the offense in their caution statement and were subsequently arraigned before court.