Lawyer Testifies In Coke Trial (Unpublished Article)

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday November 16, 2007
A lawyer whose chamber the charter agreement that led to the importation of 77 parcels of cocaine into the country in April 2006, was signed, testified at an Accra Fats Track yesterday.

Mr. Emmanuel Francis Owuoh came to give evidence at the instance of Joseph Kojo Dawson, the owner of the M.V.Benjamin vessel who is being tried for allowing his vessel to be used to cart cocaine.

He is being tried with four others for the importation of the narcotic drug.

Dawson and his accomplices - Isaac Arhin, 40, Phillip Bruce Arhin, 49, a mechanic, Cui Xian Li, 49, a vessel engineer and Luo Yui Xing, 49, both Chinese, who were on board the MV Benjamin vessel that allegedly brought the narcotic drug package, lost their respective applications for submission of ‘no case’ after the close of the prosecution’s case.

The sixth person, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean vessel engineer, who was jointly charged with the five was acquitted and discharged by the court for lack of evidence.

The five men have been charged for the roles they played in the alleged importation of the cocaine to the Tema Port in April last year.

Sheriff, popularly called “Limping Man,” now at large, allegedly chartered the vessel from Dawson at 150,000 dollars under the pretext of towing his distressed vessel from Conakry, Guinea.

Isaac Arhin, Bruce Arhin, Li and Xing have all pleaded not guilty to two counts of engaging in prohibited business as related to narcotic drugs and possessing narcotic drugs unlawfully.

The prosecution called 13 witnesses after which the accused persons filed a submission of no case’ because they believed the prosecution failed to establish a case against them.

Led in evidence by D.K. Ameley, counsel for Dawson, Owuoh told the court that he is the solicitor for Dashment Company Limited, the company where Dawson is the Managing Director and received a monthly stipend of 1million cedis.

He said Dawson came to him in November 2005 to tell him that the vessel which then docked at the Takoradi Port and which is jointly owned by Dashment Company and a Korean fishing company was giving them problems and intended to sell it.

The witness said Dawson came again in January 2006 to say that the Koreans had got a buyer but that buyer wanted to use the vessel to tow his distress vessel at Conakry Guinea and assess the sea-worthiness of M.V Benjamin before it could be bought.

“On February 6, 2006, at 4:30 pm a man who described himself as Sheriff Asem Darke and his lawyer called William Kobb Lumor came to my chamber in the company of Bae, the vessel’s representative from Korea to meet Dawson and his father for the agreement.”

“We were to prepare both charter and sale agreements and when I requested that we should prepare them Sheriff said that had already been done”.

He claimed that when he went through the agreements and realised that there were inconsistencies in them Bae insisted that the agreements should be signed because he was traveling to Korea on that same day and could not wait for new agreements to be prepared.

During cross examination by Mrs. Stella Badu, a Principal State Attorney, Owuoh told the court that Dawson made his father to sign for him when the preamble referred to Dawson and the accused should have signed instead of the father.


He said Dawson had made his father sign the agreements with Sheriff because his father was the person who had signed the hire-purchase agreement.

He said it was Bae who witnessed for Dawson.

He also said Sheriff signed as Evans Charwetey Tsekobi and his lawyer witnessed for him but the prosecution was able to point to him that before the agreement was signed he knew Sheriff was not Tsekobi, to which he replied “when he entered he mentioned his name as Asem Darke”.

The prosecution again put to him that he did not represent Dawson’s interest in the agreement but Owuoh insisted “I did but it was Bae who wanted things to be done quickly because he was traveling to Korea that night”.

“The agreements came in this form and was executed in this form. My influence was not felt because Bae said there was no time to waste”.

The court, presided over by Justice Annin Yeboah of the Court of Appeal, adjourned proceedings until November 21, for Dawson to call another witness.