Drama at trial of Gregory Afoko
There was drama at the Accra High Court on Thursday when Gregory Afoko, the man indicted for the murder of the former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Adams Mahama, requested the court to sack a young man from the court.
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According to the accused, the young man, whom he called Tawfiq, was the personal assistant to the deceased and witness in the case.
Per the rules governing the court system in Ghana, witnesses in a case are not supposed to be in the courtroom when the case is being heard unless it is time for them to give their evidence or be cross-examined.
The young man, however, denied that his name was Tawfiq and that he was the personal assistant to Mahama.
Afoko was not convinced by the explanation given by the young man, as he still insisted that the young man should be sacked from the court.
Standing and pointing his finger at the young man, Afoko pleaded with the court to sack him.
Both the prosecution and Afoko’s legal team, however, pointed out that the young man was not a witness in the case.
Afoko then requested the court to sack him, saying: “If he goes out, he will brief the other witnesses.’’
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The court, presided over by Mr Justice L.L. Mensah, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as a High Court judge, thanked Afoko for his concerns but informed him that the court did not act on mere suspicion.
Afoko has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
Wife of deceased
The drama unfolded when the first witness in the case and wife of the deceased, Hajia Zainabu Adams, was giving her evidence-in-chief.
Led by the prosecutor, Chief State Attorney Mr Matthew Amponsah, the witness narrated how she got to know about her husband’s death and what she did when she found him.
According to her, she was in the house when, about 11 p.m. on May 20, 2015, she heard her husband shouting and crying outside that he had been attacked.
She said she immediately ran out and found her husband in his pick up shouting and wailing that he was burning.
“He was in the car crying and shouting ‘I need help! I need help! I am burning! I am dying!’’ she said.
She said she helped her husband out of the car but he was still wailing and shouting in pain
She added that when she asked him what had happened to him, he said some men had poured acid on him.
“He said it was the younger brother of Paul Afoko, a politician, called Gregory, and Asabke Alandi who did that to him,’’ she said.
Adjournment
The court has adjourned the case to October 11, 2016 for the continuation of Hajia Adams’s evidence-in–chief.