KWEKU ATTAH vs. THE REPUBLIC [2022]DLSC11670

Date	2022-04-06
Suit No.	CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. J3/01/2018
Citation No.	[2022]DLSC11670

DOTSE JSC (PRESIDING)

DORDZIE (MRS.) JSC

PROF. KOTEY JSC

LOVELACE-JOHNSON (MS.) JSC

PROF. MENSA-BONSU JSC

PAA JOY AKUAMOAH BOATENG ESQ. FOR THE APPELLANT WITH HIM AKUA BRAGO BOA-AMPONSEM.

STELLA OHENE APPIAH (PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY) FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[2022]DLSC11670
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >KWEKU ATTAH<o:p></o:p>(APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>[SUPREME
COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:
.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-align:center;line-height:150%;border:none;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. J3/01/2018&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;DATE: 6TH APRIL, 2022<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL<o:p></o:p>PAA JOY AKUAMOAH BOATENG ESQ.
FOR THE APPELLANT WITH HIM AKUA BRAGO BOA-AMPONSEM.<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:
justify;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">STELLA OHENE APPIAH (PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY) FOR THE RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<o:p></o:p>DOTSE JSC
(PRESIDING), DORDZIE (MRS.) JSC, PROF. KOTEY JSC, LOVELACE-JOHNSON (MS.) JSC,
PROF. MENSA-BONSU JSC<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top-width: 1.5pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-left: none; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-right: none; padding: 1pt 0cm;">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;line-height:150%;border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>&nbsp;PROF. MENSA-BONSU (MRS.) JSC:-<o:p></o:p>This case
arose out of a marital dispute that tragically ended up in violence, leaving
one party dead, and the other awaiting capital punishment in prison. When a
marriage which supposedly began with love ends with such vicious acts by one
party against the other, then one is compelled to see the wisdom in the words
the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley who wrote, that there are,<o:p></o:p>“links of the great chain of things,<o:p></o:p>To every thought within the mind of man<o:p></o:p>Sway and drag heavily, each one reels<o:p></o:p>Under the load towards the pit of death: Abandoned
hope, and love that turns to hate:<o:p></o:p>And self-contempt, bitterer to drink than blood”<o:p></o:p>An unhealthy
thought began with “love that turns to hate” in a husband, and birthed a chain
of events aimed at blocking any future opportunity of the wife to start another
relationship and another life. The result was this tragedy which now forms the
basis of this appeal. <o:p></o:p>Background and Facts:<o:p></o:p>The
appellant, a taxi driver, was married to one Akua Praba alias Sekina (now
deceased). The couple lived at Nkanfoa near Cape Coast in the Central Region.
They had one child, a three-year-old, between them whilst appellant had an
older child as well. <o:p></o:p>On 5thFebruary,
2006, the appellant returned home from work at about 12.30am, having left for
work the previous day. On account of this, the couple, who seemed to have a
turbulent relationship already, began a bitter quarrel. This misunderstanding
persisted for some days and so the wife, now deceased, left the matrimonial
home to return to her mother’s home at Assin Ngresi also <a name="_Hlk100066981">in
the Central Region</a>. The appellant later went to the house of the in-laws
and succeeded in bringing his wife back home, although the woman was reluctant
to return. Her main complaint was that the appellant constantly abused her, and
that on one occasion when they fought, he even stripped her stark naked in
public.<o:p></o:p>Following
upon her return, the appellant left for work the next day and returned to find
that his wife had again left the house, this time leaving their only child
behind. His enquiries showed that his wife had gone to her hometown at Assin
Nsowyamuin the Central Region. After two days of hearing nothing from the wife,
appellant followed up to Assin Nsowyamu in his taxi cab and met the wife at her
father’s house. After some discussion, the father and his relations helped to
resolve the issue and so the appellant was advised to return to Cape Coast and
that his wife would follow. Three days later, she did return to the matrimonial
home in Nkanfoa as promised.<o:p></o:p>However, the
issue appeared not to have been satisfactorily resolved, for the very next
Saturday, while the appellant was on an assignment out of Cape Coast, the woman
packed up again and left Nkanfoa. On his return, his wife was nowhere to be
found. He was then informed, that the woman had again packed all her belongings
and returned to her father’s home. So the </main>