[1963]DLSC10979 • February 8, 1963 • Supreme Court •
YIRENKYI vs. THE STATE
The appellant was convicted by the High Court, Accra, for the murder of Afua Ayeley, his former wife under customary law, after evidence showed that shortly after their customary divorce he met her on the road to Nsawam market and struck her with a cutlass at the back of the neck. The prosecution relied on evidence of prior matrimonial differences, eyewitness testimony identifying the appellant, evidence rebutting his alibi by placing him at Nsawam on the material dates, and the deceased’s dying declaration identifying him as her assailant. The appellant denied the charge and raised an alibi in a notice under section 131 of the Criminal Procedure Code, asserting that he had travelled to Osiem and later Tweapease, but he did not testify on oath and did not call the witnesses named in his alibi notice. Portion of judgment: “The appellant was convicted... of the murder of a woman—named Afua Ayeley... The main point that fell for determination in the trial was the identity of the person who... attacked the deceased with a cutlass...”
read moreAkufo-Addo J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was convicted before Acolatse J. in the High Court, Accra, on the 13th March, 1962, of the murder of a woman—named Afua Ayeley. The case for the prosecution was that the appellant was married, apparently under customary law, to the said Afua Ayeley, that differences arose between the appellant and Ayeley, differences attended by the usual quarrels between man and wife, and which ultimately culminated in the marriage being dissolved in accordance with customary law in the presence of the Chief of Nsawam, where the couple lived. The dissolution of the marriage took place on Saturday, the 10th February, 1962. On the morning of Monday, the 12th February, 1962, at about 7 o’clock, the deceased Ayeley and her sister Korkor were on their way from Djankrom, a district of Nsawam, to the Nsawam market in the centre of Nsawam, when they met the appellant. According to the prosecution, as per the evidence of Korkor, the appel...