Teacher seeks GH¢ 7.1 million compensation over wrongful conviction
Eric Asante, the 40-year-old teacher who was convicted to 15-year jail term for defilement, has prayed the Supreme Court to grant him GH¢7.1 million cedis as compensation from the state.
He is also seeking his reinstatement by the Ghana Education Service.
The Supreme Court had earlier acquitted and discharged Mr Asante after he had served 12 years of the sentence.
At its sitting on Wednesday, Mr Asiamah Sampong, Chief State Attorney said Asante’s compensation was being worked on.
According to Mr Sampong, on January 9, this year, the Attorney-General wrote to the Ministry of Finance but was yet to receive a response.
Mr Sampong said the Ghana Education Service had also agreed to re-instate Mr Asante.
Mr Victor Kwesi Opeku, counsel for Mr Asante was asked by the Supreme Court to take other steps to ensure the payment of the compensation and desist from using the Supreme Court as a debt collector.
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“You think the state is going to award you GH¢7.1 million cedis, then you are joking. You think the compensation is to turn you into a millionaire,” Justice Sule Gbadegbe a panel member quizzed Mr Opeku.
According to Justice Gbadegbe, Mr Asante should pursue his re-instatement as well as compensation in relation the number of years he had spent in jail and the inconvenience he had gone through.
The court which was presided over by Mr Justice Anin Yeboa adjourned the matter to April 18.
Other Justices on the panel were Sule Gbadegbe, Paul Baffoe Bonney, Gabriel Pwamang and Yaw Appau.
Mr Asante then teaching at a basic school was sentenced in 2005 by the Tamale High Court for defiling one Rubamatu Mohammed, then a 14-year-old pupil of the school.
After an appeal failed, he proceeded to the Supreme Court in 2012 which then ordered for a paternity test which proved otherwise.
The court then presided over by Justice Anin Yeboah acquitted and discharged him on Thursday January 26, last year, after a DNA test proved that the teacher was not the father of the baby that resulted after the alleged sexual act.
Mr Asante is demanding compensation from the state.