ADEKURA vs. THE REPUBLIC [1985]DLCA205

Date	1985-12-12
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1985]DLCA205

ADADE JSC

OSEI-HWERE JA

AMPIAH J

ODURO FOR THE APPELLANT.

OSAFO SAMPONG PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE REPUBLIC.

[1985]DLCA205
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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ADEKURA <o:p></o:p>

{COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA} <o:p></o:p>

[1984-86] 2 GLR 345<o:p></o:p>

DATE:
12 DECEMBER 1985<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

ODURO FOR THE APPELLANT. <o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

ADADE JSC, OSEI-HWERE JA AND AMPIAH J<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF OSEI-HWERE J A.<o:p></o:p>He
delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was the operations officer
of the Bolgatanga branch of the people’s militia. He was arraigned before the
criminal assizes holden at Bolgatanga for the offence of murder and he was out
in charge of a jury of seven of his ordinary countrymen. By the unanimous
verdict of the jury, he was found guilty of murder and the court sentenced him
to death according to law. Aggrieved by this verdict he brought this appeal
wherein he has relied on no less than nine grounds of appeal, of which some are
but variations of the same theme.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The brief
facts of the prosecution’s case were these: The fourth prosecution witness, an
internal controller of the Tono Irrigation Project, Navrongo, was assigned a
Land Rover with registration No GN 7084 to travel to Accra on duty. He
instructed his son, the first prosecution witness, to drive the vehicle ahead
to Navrongo and hand it over to the regular driver. At about 5:30 am on that
fateful day the first prosecution witness took off from Tono with eight
passengers (including the second and third prosecution witnesses and the
deceased Augustine Klakani, a student of Navrongo Secondary School) towards
Navrongo. When he got to the Navrongo-Sandema main motor road from the Tono
Junction he slowed down and as he negotiated the curve towards Navrongo there
was a gunshot. The first prosecution witness thought it was a tyre-burst and he
stopped the vehicle. Augustine Klakani was hit in the stomach by a bullet as
the result of the gunshot and his intestines gushed out. He was wailing and the
first prosecution witness was about to rush him to the hospital when they
discerned two men in khaki-overall standing at a distance who warned that if he
moved the vehicle he would be fired at again. After some time the two men
ordered that the first prosecution witness should drive on. That same day
Augustine Klakani succumbed to his injury at the Bolgatanga Hospital towards
the end of a three-hour operation. The police visited the scene of the incident
and recovered five empty shells fired from an AK 47 rifle.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
appellant’s defence was that he was one of a group of militiamen on operational
duty to track down illegal fuel deals at the site of the Tono Irrigation
Project. The operation was conducted with the prior approval of the district
defence co-ordinator, the acting regional co-ordinator of the defence committee
and the PNDC District Secretary of Navrongo. The appellant who was armed with
an AK 47 rifle, was in command of the operation and their instructions were
that any person carrying a pan should be searched and any vehicle coming from
the Tono Project area or the Sandema Road should be stopped and searched. The
appellant and one other took their positions at the Tono Junction whilst the
others were driven away to take positions elsewhere.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Some
twenty minutes after they had been at their post they spotted a vehicle coming
from the Tono Irrigation Project site. The appellant went to the middle of the
road and raised the rifle and stopped the vehicle. The driver also blew on his
horn. This was at a junction and so he gave him way to pass. The vehicle came
to the junction without stopping but slowed down and negotiated the curve. What
followed is best told in the appellant’s own words as follows:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“I
thought the driver was going to stop, but he did not. I therefore cocked the
rifle and aimed at the back sight of the rifle to see the tyre of the moving
vehicle. By then the car was still moving. I was aiming at the back right side
tyre. When the car did not stop my colleague was going to look at the
registration number of the vehicle and the bullet nearly hit him. My colleague
stopped and I started to give rapid firing. That is a continuous firing to
ensure that the vehicle stopped. After releasing five bullets we saw that the
vehicle had stopped.”<o:p></o:p><o:p</main>