Kasoa money ritual murder: Juvenile to be sentenced on Tuesday

The Juvenile Court in Accra will on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, sentence the 15-year-old juvenile found guilty of conspiring with another teenager to murder a 10-year-old boy at Kasoa for a money ritual.

The court was expected to pronounce the sentence today (Jan 16), but a social enquiry report meant to help the court sentence the convict was not ready, forcing the court to adjourn the case.

Section 24 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2003 (ACT 653) mandates a probation officer to prepare a social enquiry report, which shall be taken into account by the Juvenile Court in the making of an order.

It includes particulars on the background of the juvenile, the present circumstances of the juvenile, the conditions under which the offence was committed and sentence recommendations.

Guilty

In October, last year, a seven-member jury unanimously found the two teenagers guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and the substantive charge of murder.

The High Court, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, sentenced the 18-year-old Nicholas Kini to life in prison.

The sentencing of the 15-year-old was, however, deferred to the juvenile court in line with Section 18(1) Juvenile Justice Act 2003 Act (ACT 653).

It states that where a juvenile appears before a court of summary jurisdiction other than a juvenile court on a charge made jointly against the juvenile and a person who has attained the age of 18 years and the juvenile offender but shall remit the case to the juvenile court for sentence.

The 15-year-old has since been kept in police custody waiting to be sentenced by the Juvenile Court.

Prosecution’s facts

According to the prosecution, on March 29, 2021, the accused persons consulted a spiritualist for money ritual, locally known as "sakawa".

The said spiritualist, who claimed to be in the Volta Region, was said to have requested GH¢5,000 and a human being to perform the rituals.

On April 3, 2021, the accused persons, according to the prosecution, decided to use the deceased in furtherance of their "sakawa" mission.

At about 9 a.m. on the same day, the prosecutor said the juvenile accused lured the deceased into an uncompleted building where the second accused had laid ambush with the club of a pickaxe.

“As soon as the deceased arrived, they told him to remove a video game from a sack they had deposited in a corner of the room.

“When the deceased bent down in an attempt to remove the said video game from the sack, the second accused struck him at the back of his neck with the club, causing him to fall,” Nana Osei said.

The deceased, she said, turned to look at the juvenile accused and pleaded with him not to kill him but forgive him if he had offended him but his plea was ignored by the juvenile accused who struck the head of the deceased with a cement block which was in the building. 

As a result, the deceased became unconscious but was still breathing.

The accused persons, the prosecution said, further used a spade and a shovel to dig a shallow grave in the room and buried the deceased intending to convey him to the spiritualist.

Writer’s E-mail: justice.agbenorsi@graphic.com.gh