[1963]DLHC17186 • December 9, 1963 • High Court
STATE vs. OTCHERE AND OTHERS
The accused persons were charged with conspiracy to commit treason, treason, and misprision of treason related to a plot to overthrow the Government of Ghana by unlawful means, including an assassination attempt on the President via handgrenades in 1962. The prosecution alleged meetings in Lomé, Togo, and activities in Ghana involving procurement of arms and recruitment of operatives. The accused denied the charges.
read moreJUDGMENT Korsah C. J. delivered the judgment of the court. The accused persons Robert Benjamin Otchere, Joseph Yaw Manu, Tawia Adamafio, Ako Adjei and Hugh Horatio Crabbe are charged with the following offences, namely—(1) conspiracy to commit treason, contrary to sections 23 (1) and 180 (1) of the Criminal Code, 19601; and (2) treason, contrary to section 180 (3), and the second accused Joseph Yaw Manu alone is charged on a third count with misprision of treason, contrary to section 181 of the Criminal Code, 1960. Particulars of the offence of conspiracy to commit treason charged are that the five persons during the years 1961 and 1962 at Accra in the Republic of Ghana, at Lomé in the Republic of Togo and Abidjan in the Republic of the Ivory Coast did agree together and with Kofi Abrefa Busia, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Oheneba Kow Richardson, Adam Amandi, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey (now deceased), Ashie Nikoi (now deceased), Edward Lartey Tetteh (now deceased) and others, to commit ...