From Della Russel Ocloo, Tema
THE Tema Police command has arrested two persons for allegedly stealing overhead telephone cables valued at GH¢1million belonging to Vodafone Ghana Limited.
Nsor Adukor, 36 and Daniel Martey, 24, were arrested at Ashaiman Lebanon Zone 3 at about 10 a.m. by residents when they attempted carting away their booty.
The Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Olivia Turkson, briefing The Mirror, said Adukor, an employee of Vodafone, gave out his uniform to the accomplice while he, armed with his identity card, often visited various communities and managed to cart away huge quantities of the cables.
She said residents who have been suspicious of their activities mounted surveillance in their operational area on November 10, this year and spotted the two removing the cables after cutting them with sharp objects.
They were arrested and handed over to the police who charged them with conspiracy to steal and stealing after they appeared before the Ashaiman Circuit Court, presided over by Justice Seyram Yao Azumah.
They were remanded to appear at a later date to answer the substantive case of stealing brought against them..
Inspector Turkson commended residents of the community for their alertness leading to the arrest of the two and assured the general public of the command’s readiness to respond to crime control in the region.
She charged the general public to volunteer vital information on criminals and suspicious activities on MTN short code 18555 and 0303 202936/7 to enable the police weed out such miscreants in the society.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
GRADMA'S CASE ADJOURNED (PAGE 3, DEC 3, 2010)
THE Magistrate’s Court in Tema trying the case involving six people who were alleged to have tortured and set ablaze a 72-year-old woman, Ama Ahemmah, leading to her death has adjourned the case to December 6.
The decision of the court is to await advice on the docket which has been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Department to enable committal proceedings to begin.
Two of the suspects, Samuel Ghunney, a 50-year-old photographer, and Emelia Opoku, a 37-year-old teacher, were alleged to have drenched Ama with Kerosene laced with petrol before setting her ablaze with the help of Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, an evangelist, Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, Hannah Sagoe and Mary Sagoe, 52, all unemployed, who have been released on a police enquiry bail.
The magistrate, Mrs Johana Yankson, was, however, absent from court because of ill-health.
The prosecutor in the case, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Addai, told the Daily Graphic that the suspects would be made to appear before the Tema High Court on a charge of murder immediately investigations into the case were completed.
The suspects were alleged to have tortured and extracted confessions of being a witch from the Ama Ahemmah, when she strayed into their house at Community One Site 7.
The decision of the court is to await advice on the docket which has been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Department to enable committal proceedings to begin.
Two of the suspects, Samuel Ghunney, a 50-year-old photographer, and Emelia Opoku, a 37-year-old teacher, were alleged to have drenched Ama with Kerosene laced with petrol before setting her ablaze with the help of Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, an evangelist, Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, Hannah Sagoe and Mary Sagoe, 52, all unemployed, who have been released on a police enquiry bail.
The magistrate, Mrs Johana Yankson, was, however, absent from court because of ill-health.
The prosecutor in the case, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Addai, told the Daily Graphic that the suspects would be made to appear before the Tema High Court on a charge of murder immediately investigations into the case were completed.
The suspects were alleged to have tortured and extracted confessions of being a witch from the Ama Ahemmah, when she strayed into their house at Community One Site 7.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
TEMA GETS LAND COURT (PAGE 23, DEC 2, 2010)
A land court has been opened in Tema to improve access to justice and ensure speedy, efficient and cost-effective resolution of land cases.
The court is located on the premises of the Tema Development Corporation. It will enable the Judicial Service to expeditiously dispose of land cases to ensure economic growth of the Tema Metropolis.
Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo of the Supreme Court, who represented the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood, inaugurated the court and said statistics showed that land cases accounted for more than 80 per cent of all new civil cases filed in courts in Ghana.
She said they included investment-related land cases, stools or skins and family lands.
Justice Akoto Bamfo noted that the system of land administration is fraught with many challenges adding that “being a most valuable natural resource , issues related to land had always assumed great importance since it is crucial to human existence”.
She said the right to shelter, education, health and work had all been enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and, therefore, its enjoyment was beyond question .
Justice Akoto Bamfo stated that land cases continued to increase resulting in delays in justice delivery .
She commended the TDC for providing accommodation for the court and its registry .
Justice Akoto Bamfo was of the view that with the inauguration of the court ,delays which had unfortunately been accepted as a norm in adjudication of land cases would be minimised.
She appealed to presiding judges ,lawyers ,court staff and litigants to contribute their quota towards ensuring that cases were disposed of with minimum delay .
Justice Akoto Bamfo also tasked them to take good care of the facility, keep the surroundings clean and desist from practices which would bring the administration of justice into disrepute .
The Managing Director of the Tema Development Corporation, Mr Joe Abbey, was grateful to the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood for embarking on series of projects and programmes to improve the justice delivery system in Ghana.
He said at present, TDC had about 80 cases pending before the law courts out of which about 60 of them were purely issues that were related to land allocation.
r Abbey noted that litigation related to land is a perennial feature and had been a major setback to development .
He stated that litigation on land cases were frustrating and tiresome for the parties involved .
Mr Abbey also disclosed that TDC in carrying out its mandate of planning ,developing and managing the Tema township had found itself in land disputes ,many of which were still being pursued in various courts .
He said it was the TDC 's decision to use the courts to solve some of the cases of unauthorised developments within the township.
The court is located on the premises of the Tema Development Corporation. It will enable the Judicial Service to expeditiously dispose of land cases to ensure economic growth of the Tema Metropolis.
Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo of the Supreme Court, who represented the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood, inaugurated the court and said statistics showed that land cases accounted for more than 80 per cent of all new civil cases filed in courts in Ghana.
She said they included investment-related land cases, stools or skins and family lands.
Justice Akoto Bamfo noted that the system of land administration is fraught with many challenges adding that “being a most valuable natural resource , issues related to land had always assumed great importance since it is crucial to human existence”.
She said the right to shelter, education, health and work had all been enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and, therefore, its enjoyment was beyond question .
Justice Akoto Bamfo stated that land cases continued to increase resulting in delays in justice delivery .
She commended the TDC for providing accommodation for the court and its registry .
Justice Akoto Bamfo was of the view that with the inauguration of the court ,delays which had unfortunately been accepted as a norm in adjudication of land cases would be minimised.
She appealed to presiding judges ,lawyers ,court staff and litigants to contribute their quota towards ensuring that cases were disposed of with minimum delay .
Justice Akoto Bamfo also tasked them to take good care of the facility, keep the surroundings clean and desist from practices which would bring the administration of justice into disrepute .
The Managing Director of the Tema Development Corporation, Mr Joe Abbey, was grateful to the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood for embarking on series of projects and programmes to improve the justice delivery system in Ghana.
He said at present, TDC had about 80 cases pending before the law courts out of which about 60 of them were purely issues that were related to land allocation.
r Abbey noted that litigation related to land is a perennial feature and had been a major setback to development .
He stated that litigation on land cases were frustrating and tiresome for the parties involved .
Mr Abbey also disclosed that TDC in carrying out its mandate of planning ,developing and managing the Tema township had found itself in land disputes ,many of which were still being pursued in various courts .
He said it was the TDC 's decision to use the courts to solve some of the cases of unauthorised developments within the township.
MY MUM IS NOT A WITCH (1B, NOV 29, 2010)
MR Stephen Kwame Ofosu Yeboah, a 48-year-old son of the woman who was burnt alive at Tema Community One last week, has discounted claims that the deceased was a witch.
The deceased, who left behind two other children, including Madam Ama Foa, 53, a trader, and 40-year-old Kwesi Ayiah, a dock worker, died from severe burns at the Tema General Hospital 24 hours after being sent there.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Yeboah said he was informed by his cousin, Mr Kofi Saman, with whom the deceased lived in the village, that she had left the village on the dawn of the day of the incident for Tema in her attempt to visit him (Yeboah) at Ashaiman.
Madam Ama Hemmah, now deceased, according to family members, had made her travel arrangements known the previous day when the entire family was about to retire to bed.
According to Mr Yeboah, his cousin said he had tried to convince her to rescind her decision, as her son had relocated from Nungua to Ashaiman and she might not be able to trace him at his new place of abode.
Mr Yeboah said family members at the village had woken up the following day to find the deceased’s bedroom empty, and after failing to locate her in the village, the said cousin alerted him.
“I then went to Kaneshie and waited at the Ajumako Station in an attempt to meet her and bring her home, but I was unsuccessful,” Mr Yeboah stated.
He denied allegations of witchcraft levelled against his mother by her killers.
“Our mother was never a witch and had never suffered any mental disorder throughout her entire life, apart from exhibiting signs of forgetfulness and other symptoms of old age,” he stated.
Meanwhile, some residents of Site 7 (Community One) where the incident occurred have appealed to state prosecutors to ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crime faced the full rigours of the law.
They said that would serve as a deterrent to people who were quick to mete out mob justice on crime suspects.
Madam Ama Hemmah, a native of Ajumako Assasan in the Central Region, was allegedly detained and tortured for four hours by six people in an attempt to extract confessions of being a witch from her.
The suspects, Samuel Ghunney, 50, a photographer, and Emelia Opoku, 37, a trader, with the help of Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, an evangelist; Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, a teacher; Hannah Sagoe and Mary Sagoe, 52, were said to have drenched the deceased in kerosene before setting her ablaze.
The suspects, however, denied the offence when they appeared before the Tema Magistrate Court.
In a related development, a resident of Community One has told the Daily Graphic that she had seen Madam Hemmah begging for alms in the neighbourhood on the day of the incident.
According to Madam Jayne Quartey, aged 76, Madam Hemmah approached her in front of her house, where she sells bread, and told her (Madam Quartey) that she (Madam Hemmah) had come to town to visit her children but lost her way after falling asleep in a Tema-bound vehicle and that she had later got down at the Community One main station.
She said Madam Hemmah, who had in her hand a black leather handbag, had sought her assistance for food, water, as well as an amount of money, to enable her to go back to her village.
According to Madam Quartey, she had offered only a piece of bread to Madam Hemmah, as there was no money on her to assist the old woman.
“If I knew that such a fate would befall her, I would not have allowed her to leave my premises,” Madam Quartey stated.
The deceased, who left behind two other children, including Madam Ama Foa, 53, a trader, and 40-year-old Kwesi Ayiah, a dock worker, died from severe burns at the Tema General Hospital 24 hours after being sent there.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Yeboah said he was informed by his cousin, Mr Kofi Saman, with whom the deceased lived in the village, that she had left the village on the dawn of the day of the incident for Tema in her attempt to visit him (Yeboah) at Ashaiman.
Madam Ama Hemmah, now deceased, according to family members, had made her travel arrangements known the previous day when the entire family was about to retire to bed.
According to Mr Yeboah, his cousin said he had tried to convince her to rescind her decision, as her son had relocated from Nungua to Ashaiman and she might not be able to trace him at his new place of abode.
Mr Yeboah said family members at the village had woken up the following day to find the deceased’s bedroom empty, and after failing to locate her in the village, the said cousin alerted him.
“I then went to Kaneshie and waited at the Ajumako Station in an attempt to meet her and bring her home, but I was unsuccessful,” Mr Yeboah stated.
He denied allegations of witchcraft levelled against his mother by her killers.
“Our mother was never a witch and had never suffered any mental disorder throughout her entire life, apart from exhibiting signs of forgetfulness and other symptoms of old age,” he stated.
Meanwhile, some residents of Site 7 (Community One) where the incident occurred have appealed to state prosecutors to ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crime faced the full rigours of the law.
They said that would serve as a deterrent to people who were quick to mete out mob justice on crime suspects.
Madam Ama Hemmah, a native of Ajumako Assasan in the Central Region, was allegedly detained and tortured for four hours by six people in an attempt to extract confessions of being a witch from her.
The suspects, Samuel Ghunney, 50, a photographer, and Emelia Opoku, 37, a trader, with the help of Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, an evangelist; Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, a teacher; Hannah Sagoe and Mary Sagoe, 52, were said to have drenched the deceased in kerosene before setting her ablaze.
The suspects, however, denied the offence when they appeared before the Tema Magistrate Court.
In a related development, a resident of Community One has told the Daily Graphic that she had seen Madam Hemmah begging for alms in the neighbourhood on the day of the incident.
According to Madam Jayne Quartey, aged 76, Madam Hemmah approached her in front of her house, where she sells bread, and told her (Madam Quartey) that she (Madam Hemmah) had come to town to visit her children but lost her way after falling asleep in a Tema-bound vehicle and that she had later got down at the Community One main station.
She said Madam Hemmah, who had in her hand a black leather handbag, had sought her assistance for food, water, as well as an amount of money, to enable her to go back to her village.
According to Madam Quartey, she had offered only a piece of bread to Madam Hemmah, as there was no money on her to assist the old woman.
“If I knew that such a fate would befall her, I would not have allowed her to leave my premises,” Madam Quartey stated.
LEDZOKUKU-KROWOR ASSEMBLY TO BUILD OFFICE BLOCK PAGE 18, NOV 26, 2010)
THE Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly has the cut sod for the construction of a three-storey permanent office block to house the assembly.
The two-phase project is estimated to cost GH¢4.5 million and the first phase is expected to be completed within 18months.
The project is being financed from the assembly’s internally generated funds (IGF) with additional funding from its share of the district assembly’s common fund.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Daniel Amartey-Mensah, said the assembly currently operated in rented premises and paid a monthly rent of GH¢9, 000, an amount he said could be used for various social interventions for residents in the municipality.
He said the unavailability of office accommodation had led to the assembly’s decentralised offices operating at different locations within the municipality.
That, he said, was impacting negatively on delivery due to mounting huge fiscal load on the assembly owing to increase demand for rent payments by owners of the structures they occupied.
Mr Mensah explained that the LEKMA in its quest to integrate development in the municipality was committed to phasing out the shift system of education which was a common feature in the municipality.
He noted that LEKMA had been allocated GH¢1.3 million by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development following an impressive performance in the ministry’s 2009 assessment of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDCs), thus placing the assembly second to Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) nationwide.
The money he said was being used judiciously for the provision of manpower training, procurement of furniture for deprived schools in the community, an ambulance for the Teshie General Hospital, construction of school blocks amongst others.
The Deputy Local Government Minister, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said his outfit after conducting an institutional audit of the sixty new MMDCEs that were created in 2008 was putting out a cabinet memorandum to seek funding for their support.
The two-phase project is estimated to cost GH¢4.5 million and the first phase is expected to be completed within 18months.
The project is being financed from the assembly’s internally generated funds (IGF) with additional funding from its share of the district assembly’s common fund.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Daniel Amartey-Mensah, said the assembly currently operated in rented premises and paid a monthly rent of GH¢9, 000, an amount he said could be used for various social interventions for residents in the municipality.
He said the unavailability of office accommodation had led to the assembly’s decentralised offices operating at different locations within the municipality.
That, he said, was impacting negatively on delivery due to mounting huge fiscal load on the assembly owing to increase demand for rent payments by owners of the structures they occupied.
Mr Mensah explained that the LEKMA in its quest to integrate development in the municipality was committed to phasing out the shift system of education which was a common feature in the municipality.
He noted that LEKMA had been allocated GH¢1.3 million by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development following an impressive performance in the ministry’s 2009 assessment of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDCs), thus placing the assembly second to Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) nationwide.
The money he said was being used judiciously for the provision of manpower training, procurement of furniture for deprived schools in the community, an ambulance for the Teshie General Hospital, construction of school blocks amongst others.
The Deputy Local Government Minister, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said his outfit after conducting an institutional audit of the sixty new MMDCEs that were created in 2008 was putting out a cabinet memorandum to seek funding for their support.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
MY MUM IS NOT A WITCH, DAILY GRAPHIC, FRONT B (MON 29 NOV 2010)
Mr Stephen Kwame Ofosu Yeboah, a 48-year-old son of the woman who was burnt alive at Tema Community One last week, has discounted claims that the deceased was a witch.
The deceased, who left behind two other children, including Madam Ama Foa, 53, a trader, and 40-year-old Kwesi Ayiah, a dock worker, died from severe burns at the Tema General Hospital 24 hours after being sent there.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Yeboah said he was informed by his cousin, Mr Kofi Saman, with whom the deceased lived in the village, that she had left the village on the dawn of the day of the incident for Tema in her attempt to visit him (Yeboah) at Ashaiman.
Madam Ama Ahima, now deceased, according to family members, had made her travel arrangements known the previous day when the entire family was about to retire to bed.
According to Mr Yeboah, his cousin said he had tried to convince her to rescind her decision, as her son had relocated from Nungua to Ashaiman and she might not be able to trace him at his new place of abode.
Mr Yeboah said family members at the village had woken up the following day to find the deceased’s bedroom empty, and after failing to locate her in the village, the said cousin alerted him.
“I then went to Kaneshie and waited at the Ajumako Station in an attempt to meet her and bring her home, but I was unsuccessful,” Mr Yeboah stated.
He denied allegations of witchcraft levelled against his mother by her killers.
“Our mother was never a witch and had never suffered any mental disorder throughout her entire life, apart from exhibiting signs of forgetfulness and other symptoms of old age,” he stated.
Meanwhile, some residents of Site 7 (Community One) where the incident occurred have appealed to state prosecutors to ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crime faced the full rigours of the law.
They said that would serve as a deterrent to people who were quick to mete out mob justice on crime suspects.
Madam Ama Hemmah, a native of Ajumako Assasan in the Central Region, was allegedly detained and tortured for four hours by six people in an attempt to extract confessions of being a witch from her.
The suspects, Samuel Ghunney, 50, a photographer, and Emelia Opoku, 37, a trader, with the help of Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, an evangelist; Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, a teacher; Hannah Sagoe and Mary Sagoe, 52, were said to have drenched the deceased in kerosene before setting her ablaze.
The suspects, however, denied the offence when they appeared before the Tema Magistrate Court.
In a related development, a resident of Community One has told the Daily Graphic that she had seen Madam Hemmah begging for alms in the neighbourhood on the day of the incident.
According to Madam Jayne Quartey, aged 76, Madam Ahima approached her in front of her house, where she sells bread, and told her (Madam Quartey) that she (Madam Ahima) had come to town to visit her children but lost her way after falling asleep in a Tema-bound vehicle and that she had later got down at the Community One main station.
She said Madam Ahima who had in her hand a black leather handbag, had sought her assistance for food, water, as well as an amount of money, to enable her to go back to her village.
According to Madam Quartey, she had offered only a piece of bread to Madam Ahima, as there was no money on her to assist the old woman.
“If I knew that such a fate would befall her, I would not have allowed her to leave my premises,” Madam Quartey stated.
The deceased, who left behind two other children, including Madam Ama Foa, 53, a trader, and 40-year-old Kwesi Ayiah, a dock worker, died from severe burns at the Tema General Hospital 24 hours after being sent there.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Yeboah said he was informed by his cousin, Mr Kofi Saman, with whom the deceased lived in the village, that she had left the village on the dawn of the day of the incident for Tema in her attempt to visit him (Yeboah) at Ashaiman.
Madam Ama Ahima, now deceased, according to family members, had made her travel arrangements known the previous day when the entire family was about to retire to bed.
According to Mr Yeboah, his cousin said he had tried to convince her to rescind her decision, as her son had relocated from Nungua to Ashaiman and she might not be able to trace him at his new place of abode.
Mr Yeboah said family members at the village had woken up the following day to find the deceased’s bedroom empty, and after failing to locate her in the village, the said cousin alerted him.
“I then went to Kaneshie and waited at the Ajumako Station in an attempt to meet her and bring her home, but I was unsuccessful,” Mr Yeboah stated.
He denied allegations of witchcraft levelled against his mother by her killers.
“Our mother was never a witch and had never suffered any mental disorder throughout her entire life, apart from exhibiting signs of forgetfulness and other symptoms of old age,” he stated.
Meanwhile, some residents of Site 7 (Community One) where the incident occurred have appealed to state prosecutors to ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crime faced the full rigours of the law.
They said that would serve as a deterrent to people who were quick to mete out mob justice on crime suspects.
Madam Ama Hemmah, a native of Ajumako Assasan in the Central Region, was allegedly detained and tortured for four hours by six people in an attempt to extract confessions of being a witch from her.
The suspects, Samuel Ghunney, 50, a photographer, and Emelia Opoku, 37, a trader, with the help of Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, an evangelist; Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, a teacher; Hannah Sagoe and Mary Sagoe, 52, were said to have drenched the deceased in kerosene before setting her ablaze.
The suspects, however, denied the offence when they appeared before the Tema Magistrate Court.
In a related development, a resident of Community One has told the Daily Graphic that she had seen Madam Hemmah begging for alms in the neighbourhood on the day of the incident.
According to Madam Jayne Quartey, aged 76, Madam Ahima approached her in front of her house, where she sells bread, and told her (Madam Quartey) that she (Madam Ahima) had come to town to visit her children but lost her way after falling asleep in a Tema-bound vehicle and that she had later got down at the Community One main station.
She said Madam Ahima who had in her hand a black leather handbag, had sought her assistance for food, water, as well as an amount of money, to enable her to go back to her village.
According to Madam Quartey, she had offered only a piece of bread to Madam Ahima, as there was no money on her to assist the old woman.
“If I knew that such a fate would befall her, I would not have allowed her to leave my premises,” Madam Quartey stated.
GRANDMA SET ABLAZE TO EXORCISE WITCHRAFT, FRI NOV 26, 2010 (DAILY GRAPHIC, LEAD STORY)
A 72-year-old grandmother suffered one of the most barbaric of deaths when she was burnt alive by a mob at Tema Site 15 after being accused of being a witch.
A student-nurse, who appeared on the scene, attempted to rescue the old woman from her ordeal but she died of her burns within 24 hours of arrival at the Tema General Hospital.
Five people who allegedly tortured and extracted the confessions of witchcraft from Ama Hemmah before drenching her in petrol and setting her ablaze have been arrested by the Tema Police.
But the suspects, including an evangelist, denied the crime and claimed that they were rather praying to exorcise the evil spirit from the deceased, Ama, when the anointing oil they had applied to her body caught fire.
Two of the suspects are Samuel Ghunney, a 50-year-old photographer, and Pastor Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, the evangelist.
The rest are Emelia Opoku, 37, Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, and Mary Sagoe, 52, all unemployed.
Briefing the Daily Graphic on the incident, the Tema Regional Police Commander, Mr Augustine Gyening, Assistant Commissioner of Police, said about 10 a.m. on November 20, 2010, Samuel Fletcher Sagoe visited his sister (Emelia) at Site 15, a suburb of Tema Community 1, and saw Madam Hemmah sitting in Emelia’s bedroom at a time Emelia had sent her children to school.
Mr Gyening said Samuel then raised an alarm attracting the attention of the principal suspect, Samuel Ghunney, and some people in the neighbourhood.
According to him, the suspects claimed that Mad. Hemmah was a known witch in the area and subjected her to severe torture, compelling her to confess being a witch.
He said after extracting the confession from Mad. Hemmah, Ghunney asked Emelia Opoku for a gallon of kerosene and, with the help of his accomplices, poured it all over her and set her ablaze.
Mr Gyening said a student-nurse, Deborah Pearl Adumoah, who chanced upon the barbaric act, rescued Mad. Hemmah and sent her to the Community One Police Station from where she was transferred to the Tema General Hospital, but she died the following day.
In their caution statement, the suspects denied the offence and explained that they poured anointing oil on the old woman and it caught fire when they offered prayers to exorcise the demon from her.
The docket has since been sent to the Attorney General’s Department for advice while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary for autopsy.
A student-nurse, who appeared on the scene, attempted to rescue the old woman from her ordeal but she died of her burns within 24 hours of arrival at the Tema General Hospital.
Five people who allegedly tortured and extracted the confessions of witchcraft from Ama Hemmah before drenching her in petrol and setting her ablaze have been arrested by the Tema Police.
But the suspects, including an evangelist, denied the crime and claimed that they were rather praying to exorcise the evil spirit from the deceased, Ama, when the anointing oil they had applied to her body caught fire.
Two of the suspects are Samuel Ghunney, a 50-year-old photographer, and Pastor Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55, the evangelist.
The rest are Emelia Opoku, 37, Nancy Nana Ama Akrofie, 46, and Mary Sagoe, 52, all unemployed.
Briefing the Daily Graphic on the incident, the Tema Regional Police Commander, Mr Augustine Gyening, Assistant Commissioner of Police, said about 10 a.m. on November 20, 2010, Samuel Fletcher Sagoe visited his sister (Emelia) at Site 15, a suburb of Tema Community 1, and saw Madam Hemmah sitting in Emelia’s bedroom at a time Emelia had sent her children to school.
Mr Gyening said Samuel then raised an alarm attracting the attention of the principal suspect, Samuel Ghunney, and some people in the neighbourhood.
According to him, the suspects claimed that Mad. Hemmah was a known witch in the area and subjected her to severe torture, compelling her to confess being a witch.
He said after extracting the confession from Mad. Hemmah, Ghunney asked Emelia Opoku for a gallon of kerosene and, with the help of his accomplices, poured it all over her and set her ablaze.
Mr Gyening said a student-nurse, Deborah Pearl Adumoah, who chanced upon the barbaric act, rescued Mad. Hemmah and sent her to the Community One Police Station from where she was transferred to the Tema General Hospital, but she died the following day.
In their caution statement, the suspects denied the offence and explained that they poured anointing oil on the old woman and it caught fire when they offered prayers to exorcise the demon from her.
The docket has since been sent to the Attorney General’s Department for advice while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary for autopsy.
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