Prosecutor beats retreat in Ya Na trial

The accused person getting ready to leave the court premises yesterday

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By William Yaw Owusu

Friday October 15, 2010
The prosecution in the case of 15 persons standing trial for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani, overlord of Dagbon in 2002 yesterday disappointed a packed Fast Track High Court in Accra when it decided not to re-examine the pathologist who performed an autopsy on the body of the late king.

It all started when Principal State Attorney, Anthony Rexford Wiredu on Wednesday, October 13, 2010, said he would need an adjournment to re-examine the tenth Prosecution Witness (PW10), Brigadier General Dr. Jaswant Mante Wadhwani (Rtd) after the witness was cross-examined by Phillip Addison, Counsel for the 15 accused persons.

Mr. Wiredu had said on Wednesday that he needed time to cross-check a court document (excerpts of the proceedings during the Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Janfo Trial) which was tendered in evidence by defense counsel before he could re-examine Dr. Wadhwani, a request that was granted reluctantly by the trial judge, Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal.

“I have never done this kind of application before but all the same I will grant you your request,” the judge said.

Yesterday, after waiting in the courtroom for about two hours for a faulty recording machine used in the trial to be fixed, the court commenced proceedings at exactly 11:27 am.

Mr. Wiredu stood up and said, “My Lord, there will be no re-examination,” sparking noise in the courtroom.

The judge said: “But you asked for an adjournment to enable you to study the document and re-examine the witness.”

Mr. Wiredu said the prosecution would no longer re-examine Dr. Wadhwani.

The jurors were then given the opportunity to ask questions.

They asked Dr. Wadhwani whether there were gunshot wounds or pellets found in the body of the Ya Na to which the witness replied “I did not find any pellet.”

Mr. Wiredu then said “My Lord, we wanted to call our next witness, Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, the officer who did the initial investigations in 2002, but he just came back from Sudan, so we are going to have a conference with him before he comes to give evidence.”

“We are going to crave your indulgence to have conference with him. He has documents he will tender. We want to give him time to arrange all these documents to be used as exhibits. We want the case to be adjourned until Monday”.

Defense Counsel Mr. Addison said “all exhibits to be tendered in evidence should have been ready before the accused were brought to be tried. I also do not think it is fair for the prosecution to ask for an adjournment purposely for re-examination and not do it.”

He then urged the court to hear an application filed by the accused persons on September 24, 2010 to compel the Attorney-General to produce all documents and exhibits that were brought before the Wuaku Commission (the body set up by President Kufuor to investigate the murder of the Ya Na after the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Gates in Yendi in March 2002).

Mr. Wiredu noted that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Gertrude Aikins was working on it and that was the reason why she was not in the court and as the argument went on, the DPP arrived in the courtroom and told the court that the only document in their custody was the Wuaku Commission report.

“We did not find handing-over note from any Attorney-General,” she said.

The judge said the application should be heard on Monday, October 18, 2010 and asked the prosecution to serve defense counsel with their affidavit in opposition to the application.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.
Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Pathologist Testifies In Ya Na Trial

Accused persons entering the police escort vehicle yesterday.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday October 14, 2010
The pathologist, who performed an autopsy on the body of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon and 28 others after the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudus and Andanis at Yendi in March 2002, yesterday testified in the trial of 15 persons charged for the murder of the King.

During cross-examination, Brigadier General Dr. Jaswant Mante Wadhwani (Rtd), who was a Colonel at the 37 Military Hospital at the time of the conflict said that although there was no scientific proof that a male charred body he examined on March 29, 2002 was that of the Ya Na, it was ‘positively’ identified by the Medical Officer in charge of the Yendi Hospital called Dr. Bernard Seshie before he conducted the autopsy.

He told an Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal that once the body of the Ya Na was ‘positively’ identified it would have been a waste of money to go for a DNA analysis to establish the identity of the body saying “to date nobody doubts that the body was nobody else’ but that of the Dagbonwura.”

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.
Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Led in evidence by Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney, Dr. Wadhwani, the 10th Prosecution Witness (PW10) said there were name tags on 17 out of the 29 bodies including that of the Ya Na that he examined, noting that the exercise was done in the presence of Dr. Seshie and Messrs Provencal and Taylor after which he issued a report.

He said he also issued a second report specifically on the Ya Na and it was used by an Accra Fast Track High Court that tried Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Janfo (two men who were subsequently acquitted and discharged for killing the Ya Na) in 2003.

In his report titled: “Autopsy report on charred remains of an adult male,” Dr. Wadhwani told the court that the body was “badly mutilated” and “showed second degree burns” and his impression in the report revealed “hemorrhagic shock associated with decapitation, among others.”

He concluded that there was a lot of blood loss as a result of the severing of parts of the body and added that it would require “a heavy and sharp instrument” to be able to cause such damage.

During cross-examination by Phillip Addison, counsel for the accused, Dr. Wadhwani said he testified at the Wuaku Commission (the body set up by President Kufuor to investigate the murder of the Ya Na) but said he could not remember the exact date.

The counsel refreshed the memory of the witness by putting it to him that he was at the Wuaku Commission on June 25, 2002 as the 40th witness.

Counsel: Did you submit a report to the commission

Witness: I did, My Lord

He said what he submitted to the commission was the findings and not the complete autopsy report adding “the report summarized the causation of death of 28 people.

That report was silent on the causation of death in respect of the Ya Na.”

Counsel: So you appeared before the commission and submitted an incomplete report

Witness: I did indicate that there was death as a result of decapitation

Counsel: Did you or did you not submit an incomplete report to the commission

Witness: As I said, in the case of the Ya Na, I was silent on the causation of
death. However anybody who read that report, the findings of the charred body of an adult male referred to only one person. (Witness explains further) When it came to the trial and required evidence, a second report was issued to assist the court.

Counsel: So after the autopsy, it took you one year to come out with your findings

Witness: In that report there was enough evidence for the panel to have information on the possible cause of death of the Ya Na… It was a distinguished panel and they derived all the answers from me.

Counsel: It took you one year to present Exhibit B (report).

Witness: The trial required impressions of how the Ya Na died… The object of autopsy is to determine the cause of death.

Counsel: Before Wuaku Commission, you failed to disclose the cause of death.

Witness: I did not fail to disclose the exact position of death or establish the definitive cause of death. My impression was that he must have died through hemorrhagic shock secondary decapitation.

Counsel: Did you tell the commission the cause of death.

Witness: I think I must have given the commission the cause of death. The impression was the same as at the Yidana Sugri trial.

Counsel: The report you presented was meant to meet the legal requirement in the trial of The Republic versus Yidana Sugri.

Witness: I will agree with you.

Counsel: Since 2002, have you had the opportunity to do further work on any of the bodies

Witness: No, My Lord

Counsel: There was an issue over the identity of the body at Wuaku Commission.

Witness: I chose that title (Autopsy report on charred remains of an adult male) but on arrival it had been positively identified as that of the Ya Na.

Counsel: Who identified it to you

Witness: Dr. Bernard Seshie, resident medical officer at the Yendi Hospital

Counsel: Did you find the identification sufficient

Witness: My Lord, I will say yes…there was only one decapitation. Information prior to my autopsy was that the Ya Na had been killed and it turned out to be true.

Counsel: Is there any scientific proof that it was the body of the Ya Na

Witness: My Lord, to answer that question, I will say no.

Counsel put it to PW10 that at the commission he (PW10) had disputed that it was the body of the Ya Na and said it was one of the cases that he examined, pointing out that he needed permission to do a DNA before he could specifically identify the body but in court yesterday Dr. Wadhwani insisted that the body was that of the Ya Na and that it was ‘positively’ identified.

Counsel: You tendered a report similar to Exhibit B but you have doctored it.

Witness: My Lord, that is not true.

Counsel: The statement “these remains are yet to be positively identified has been taken out of Exhibit B.

Witness: On that occasion I needed to present my impressions about the cause of death of the Ya Na. It did not need to be there. I chose what to put on the paper.

Counsel then read excerpts of the proceedings during the Yidana trial to him (witness) and said he (witness) had told the court then that the body he referred to could be that of anybody and not necessarily that of the Ya Na, Dr Wadhwani replied “then I did not make the right comment.”

Counsel: You were unable to tell the commission the cause of death.

Witness: I did allude to certain charred body which was that of the Ya Na. I said it was decapitated with blood loss. This was my impression

Counsel: I repeat You were unable to establish the cause of death of the Ya Na.

Witness: I did say that my impression of the causation of death was a result of hemorrhagic shock as a result of decapitation and injuries to the head and limbs. It could have been factors and concluded that the burning was terminal.

Counsel: All these things you have said, you never said them at the commission

Witness: Verbatim; maybe not but I did allude to them. I used the word impressions.

Counsel: In Exhibit B, you have stated clearly what the cause of death was but you did not say so at the commission.

Witness: I agree but I did allude to them. I can’t reduce my answers to yes or no.

The prosecution then asked for an adjournment to enable them study the proceedings of the Yidana Sugri trial, which was tendered in evidence by defense counsel and was fiercely objected to by the prosecution before re-examining Dr. Wadhwani, and the judge granted.

Sitting continues today

I Fought To Protect Ya Na

Achana aka Red (Second right)leaving the court yard after his testimony.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday October 13, 2010
The ninth Prosecution Witness (PW9) in the trial of 15 persons charged for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon yesterday told an Accra Fast Track High Court that he fought in the intra-ethnic conflict between Abudus and Andanis at Yendi in March 2002.

Mohammed Achana Abdul Salaam aka Red, a labourer at the Survey Department in Tamale, said he entered the Gbewaa Palace on March 26, 2002 to fight and protect the Ya Na because he was the King’s warrior and an in-law, although he is not a Dagomba.

He however claimed that he used a shot gun during the conflict, denying the fact that he used a G3-a military-style automatic assault rifle despite acknowledging that the police found G3 bullets in his pocket during cross-examination.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand in police custody except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Led in evidence by Solomon Atadze, a Principal State Attorney, PW9 told the packed court that on March 25, 2002, he heard on Radio Savanna in Tamale that due to the attacks on the Gbewaa Palace, the Ya Na could not celebrate the Bugum (Fire) Festival and as a warrior he decided to go to Yendi the next day (March 26, 2002) to protect him (Ya Na).

He said when he got to the palace he heard firing from the right side where the Abudus were located and saw royals of the Ya Na sitting in front of the palace
He said he moved straight to have discussions with the Ya Na during which the firing intensified.

He said short guns were used to fire musketry in the palace and he picked one and also fired back saying “we could not see the Abudus but they fired from where they were hiding.”

PW9 told the court that the Abudus came again in the afternoon to burn down portions of the palace including houses belonging to Ya Na’s wife and his driver before the firing subsided.

He said in the early hours of March 27, 2002 the firing started again and it was too heavy that the Abudus were able to come close to the palace, setting houses ablaze.

PW9 mentioned that he, together with Ya Na, Alhassan Zakaria and Kojo Ngula, were those left in the palace at that moment and noted that all the rest had been killed.
“I told the Ya Na that we should leave and attempted pulling his hand to escape but
he said I should go.”

He said when he attempted to leave the palace he was fired in the stomach by Mohammed Cheampon, Moro Cheampon (A10) and Alhassan Bako, adding, “I raised up my hand and walked for about 30 to 40 meters and heard somebody shout –This id Red…Kill him!”

When the Principal State Attorney asked Red why he left the Ya Na despite the fact that he (Red) was a warrior offering the King protection, he (PW9) said “the Ya Na is a magical game so we all believe that no gun or knife can hurt him.”

He said he ran to the Yendi Police Station and on his way he was shot by one Yakubu an Abudu who was hiding with some of his colleagues at the Yendi Magistrate Court.

PW9 said he was admitted at the Yendi Hospital where he was operated upon and transferred to the Tamale Government Hospital on March 29, 2002.

During cross-examination by Phillip Addison, counsel for the accused PW9 said he was not a Dagomba but insisted he was a warrior to the Ya Na and his duty was to protect the king and the palace.

Counsel: Are you a Dagomba

Witness: No my Lord

Counsel: You became a chief warrior because you were recruited to fight

Witness: Not so my Lord (Witness explains further)… The Chief of Kumbungu made me the chief warrior. He, the Kumbung-Na, is the Chief Warrior of the Ya Na and whoever is serving the Kumbung-Na is also serving the Ya Na

Counsel: So in actual fact you are not a chief warrior to the Ya Na

Witness: I am a sub-chief warrior to the Ya Na

Counsel: The families that constitute warriors are well known in Dagbon

Witness: Yes (witness explains)… but not withstanding, the Ya Na can appoint a warrior even if that person is not a Dagomba

Counsel: So it was the Ya Na who made you a warrior

Witness: Yes (He explains further)… but he is the Overlord and we all pay allegiance to him

Counsel: You went to Yendi as a mercenary. You are a hired guard

Witness: It is not so because I go the palace all the time and the Ya Na being my in-law, I felt I should go and protect him.

He told the court that he went to Yendi on March 26 even though counsel put it to him that he had gone there to fight for the Ya Na because the date for the festival (March 25, 2002) had passed but the witness insisted that he was there to protect the Ya Na and the palace, adding, “Nobody sent for me. I went there myself.”

He said there was no war in Yendi but acknowledged that he went to the town as a warrior.

“When I got to the palace there were a lot of people and as a warrior I had to defend the Ya Na and the palace.”

Counsel: So you were firing at the Abudus

Witness: They were hiding

Counsel: Did you or did you not fire at the Abudus

Witness: Yes I fired

Counsel: So you were firing into the wall

Witness: I was not seeing them so I was firing at random.

Counsel: So you could have killed some of the Abudus

Witness: In war you fire and as a commander my firing could have killed
When counsel put it to him that he was seen firing on top of the mosque at the palace with the G3 weapon he said “it is not true”.

He said he knew one Dibba who was killed in the conflict and said he was also a warrior from Gundwagu but denied that he was firing.

“I saw Dibba firing. He used a short gun similar to the one I was using. I did not see him climbing any tree. He was shot in the palace.”

Counsel: You surrendered to the police

Witness: Yes

Counsel: You handed over a G3

Witness: No I never held a G3

Counsel: Police discovered G3 bullets in your pocket

Witness: Yes (witness explained)…but I explained to the police how I got the bullets

Counsel: What was your explanation

Witness: I told them I picked them on my way to the Police Station.

Counsel: So somebody who is being pursued could stop and pick up G3 bullets

Witness: I walked about 30 to 20 meters before running so that was the time I picked them.

The counsel put it to him that he did not say in his own statement which he gave to the police that he picked up G3 bullets but witness insisted that he picked the G3 bullets and denied portions of his own statements.

When he appeared before the Wuako Commission (the body set up by President Kufuor to investigate the murder of the Ya Na) PW9 told the commission that he saw Moro Cheampon (A10) but he (A10) did not fire at him but when counsel put that piece of evidence to him, PW9 said “this is not what I said at Wuaku Commission. He fired at me.”

Counsel: Do you have any problem with the accused persons

Witness: I do not think I have any problem with any of these accused persons Most of the Abudus are my friends. It was until this happened that I got to know where they belong.

Sitting continues today.

POTAG Joins UTAG

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By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 12, 2010
The mounting labour unrests popularly in the country in recent times do not appear to be ending anytime soon, as more groups join the strike action.

In a spate of two months the President John Evans Atta Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has had to deal with numerous labour unrests from civil and public servants over the Single Spine Salary Structure to junior nurses and now it is the turn of the academia and taxi drivers.

Currently the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) is on indefinite strike and as if that was not enough the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) has also joined the fray saying they have totally withdrawn their services starting from yesterday with taxi drivers in Winneba embarking on sit down strike.

POTAG in a news release issued in Accra on Thursday jointly signed by Godfred Abledu, National President and Anthony Ayakwah, General Secretary had said “we observe regrettably that since September 1, 2010. Efforts made though the National Labour Commission (NLC) to get Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to negotiate POTAG’s condition of service had proved futile.”

The release said “it is sad to note that the NLC has lost focus on this issue saying “while we are asking for negotiation on our conditions of service, the NLC is talking about job evaluation and re-evaluation. These are two different things.”

According to POTAG, the substantive issue is about negotiation of their condition of service which expired in December 2008 and discussion on unresolved issues in the conditions of service of POTAG which could not be since 2006.

The release said POTAG embarked on a sit down strike on September 1, 2010 and suspended it on September 15, 2010 because the FWSC which had initially refused to negotiate their conditions of service agreed to negotiate with them.

POTAG regretted that the goodwill and trust exhibited by FWSC and the NLC on September 15, 2010 were abused saying “we have lost confidence and can no longer trust NLC.”

The release warned that they were going to hold an emergency meeting at Koforidua and added that “The leadership of POTAG will therefore not hesitate to allow its members to embark on a nationwide protest to register their displeasure about the inaction of the two commissions.”

When contacted by telephone yesterday Mr. Abledu said “POTAG after the emergency meeting has resolved to withdraw our services until the government meets our request for improved condition of service.”

Meanwhile, UTAG has said it could return to the lecture halls in the next 48 hours if the payment of the first installment of their salary arrears as agreed with the Government is done.

The likely suspension of the strike follows appeals made to UTAG by the association of Vice Chancellors-Ghana and the Fair Wages Commission.

The two bodies had promised to impress on the government to ensure that the Lecturers are paid their first three months arrears today and UTAG says that would be the only basis upon which they would return to the lecture halls pending payment of the entire arrears per an agreed payment plan.

UTAG president Dr Kwasi Ohene Yanchera told an Accra-based radio station that the payment of the first installment will only guarantee a suspension of the strike and not a total call off.

UTAG’s reason for the strike is to push for the restoration of the actual value of the entry-level salary of the university teacher, as agreed upon in the government-UTAG ‘salary road map’ in 2008 and payment of arrears for the restoration of the value of the entry level salary of the university teacher from January 2009 to the present.

Census In Limbo

Dr. Grace Bediako is the government statistician in Ghana.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 12, 2010
Even though the two-week deadline set to count every Ghanaian as part of the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) has elapsed, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) says it will not stop the exercise until it is finished.

This decision leaves enumerators confused with no tentative date for the extension.

“We do not want to give anymore deadlines. We are working till the last person is counted,” Michael Adu-Gyamfi, Public Relations Officer of the GSS, said yesterday.

According to media reports, less than half (45 per cent) of the estimated population of Ghana had been counted by October 10, 2010 when the exercise was expected to end and people have expressed concern about the slow pace of the exercise.

The National Census Secretariat had projected to undertake the enumeration within two weeks ending October 10, 2010 but shortage of census materials, heavy rainfall in some parts of the country, and the unco-operative attitude of some sections of the public, had posed serious challenges to the exercise.

In a telephone interview with DAILY GUIDE yesterday, Mr. Adu-Gyamfi said the Ghana Education Service (GES) had given all teachers helping in the counting to continue until the exercise was completed.

He said the secretariat was currently combining the mopping-up exercise and the counting at the same time and said “we are working very hard to get the exercise completed.”

He said the initial problems that beset the exercise had been solved adding “we have enough questionnaires to complete the exercise.”

“The military has really helped us to get census materials to the hinterlands of the country. We are using this medium to urge members of the public who have not been counted or whose houses and structures have not been numbered to contact the census secretariat for prompt response.”

Mr Adu-Gyamfi said the GSS had already sat down with the enumerators to discuss the issue of remuneration hinting that the extension of the exercise would not affect the enumerators.

Most people polled by DAILY GUIDE said they have not been counted, giving credence to media reports that only 45 percent of the population had been counted by the close of the exercise on Sunday.

Sources said the problem stemmed from the late release of money for the programme as well as the replacement of the ‘real enumerators’ with NDC foot-soldiers who were not trained for the exercise.

This paper learnt that but for the intervention of financial institutions which were made to provide $1million each, the exercise would have suffered a serious set back.

The last time Ghana organised a Population and Housing Census (PHC) was in the year 2000, when 18.9 million people were counted, while a later mid-year estimate in 2009, counted 23.4 million people.

After some initial hitches in selecting a date, the 2010 PHC started on September 26, 2010. The two-week 2010 Census is estimated to cost about GH¢70 million.
GSS says about 60,000 enumerators had been trained to conduct the census.

Assemblyman pursues Agona East DCE

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 12, 2010
A GOVERNMENT appointee at the Agona East District Assembly, Kojo Amoakwa is calling for accountability by accusing the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area for failing to utilize budgeted funds to renovate a market at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region.

According to Mr. Amoakwa the assembly approved GH¢15,000 (150 million cedis) for the renovation of the Duakwa market in 2009 which was never done yet the DCE, Oremous Arko presented the same amount for approval for 2010 but could not explain how the money approved for 2009 was spent.

Mr. Amoakwa who visited DAILY GUIDE in Accra on Thursday complained bitterly about the rate at which development was slowing down in the district saying “we have the resources and the potential to develop as a newly-created district but some people at the helm are not helping matters at all.”

Explaining what had gone wrong in the district, Mr. Amoakwa said when the assembly met in March to approve the budget, he raised the issue of the GH¢15,000 in the 2009 budget which was earmarked for the Duakwa market renovation but the DCE could not explain anything except to say that he was going to organize a dinner in Accra and invite all Duakwa citizens in Accra and Tema to raise funds to reconstruct the market.

“As we speak, the fundraising dinner never took place and the market was never renovated yet the assembly approved the funds on two occasions.”

“A portion of the market has collapsed. People are now forced to sell on the streets and this causes a lot of inconvenience to motorists especially on market days (Thursdays).”

He said lack of regular meetings at the assembly is hampering development adding “there are no programmes going on in the district. Things are at a standstill.”

When reached for his side of the story last Thursday, the DCE said he was in Takoradi in the Western region attending a meeting and asked the paper to call back but persistent calls and a text messages sent to him later on all went unanswered.

On Monday when he was contacted again, the DCE in an angry voice said DAILY GUIDE should come to the district before he would speak and hung up.

I was with DCE in Tamale – Witness tells court

Accused person being escorted to the court room by police.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

William Yaw Owusu

Saturday October 9, 2010
A former accountant at the Yendi District Assembly yesterday told an Accra Fast Track High Court where 15 people have been charged for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon that he was taken to Tamale by then Yendi District Chief Executive to get the authorities there to intervene in the intra-ethnic conflict between Abudus and Andanis in March 2002.

Alhaji Mustapha Imoro, the eighth prosecution witness (PW8) listed on the bill of indictment as PW11 said the DCE Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani (the eighth accused person - A8) had taken him as an Andani and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns (A14), an Abudu to meet Prince Imoro Andani, then Northern Regional Minister on March 26, 2002 over the fighting which had already started a day before.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand in police custody except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Led in evidence by Solomon Atadi, a Principal State Attorney, PW8 who currently works for the Kpandai District Assembly in the Northern Region told the court presided over by Justice EK Ayebi that around 1:15pm the DCE requested him to standby and not quiet long he (DCE) came downstairs and asked him (PW8) to join him (DCE) in his official vehicle to the military barracks in Yendi.

“At the barracks we met an army officer who complained that the military armour car could not spark due to battery failure”, adding “we came back to the office and the DCE called the District Coordinating Director, Alhaji Mohamed Asibi Azongo to call for the driver of the District Assembly cesspit emptier to come.”

He said the driver came to remove the battery of the cesspit emptier and sent it to the military officer to spark the armour car.

“The DCE then told me that we were going to Tamale” and added “somewhere around the old market in Yendi town, the car stopped and we picked Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and the DCE informed the two of us that he was carrying us to Tamale because all telephone lines in Yendi are down.”

PW8 told the court that the DCE had said he (DCE) was taking them to Tamale so that they can bear witness to the fact that he was arranging for reinforcement to quell the conflict.

The witness said the DCE had told him that he (DCE) did not want anybody to accuse him (DEC) of going to Tamale to recruit fighters for the Abudus.

“Somewhere near Sang on the Tamale-Yendi road we met a military pick up heading towards Yendi with three people in it and our vehicle stopped and the military pick up also stopped.”

He said the DCE alighted and walked towards the military vehicle and a soldier also alighted and the two talked for a while but did not hear what they discussed and the DCE returned into the vehicle and they left for Tamale.

PW8 claimed that on their way the DCE looked at his watch and remarked “at exactly 4pm Abudus and Andanis will clash in Yendi” but during cross-examination he admitted that the fighting had started a day before (25th March 2002).

He said they drove straight to the Tamale Regional Coordinating Council and upon hearing that the Regional Minister had gone to a place called Andy Lodge for a break they followed him (Minister) there.

“We drove there and the DCE entered the room first and invited us in. We entered and greeted the Minister and he offered us a seat.”

He said the DCE briefed the Minister about the deteriorating security situation in Yendi and he (DCE) suggested that the then National Security Advisor Lt. Gen.
Josuah Hamidu should be contacted on the issue but the Minister said he did not remember the General’s number.

“The DCE then asked me to bring his bag from the vehicle which I did and he opened his dairy and called the general’s number for the Minister to dial.”

He said during the phone call all he heard from the Minister was that he (Minister) could not go to the Gbewaa palace and then ‘’yes sir!” “Yes sir!” followed and handed the phone to the DCE where he again heard “Yes Sir!” “Yes sir!”

He said the DCE then said he was with one Andani and he (PW8) was given the phone to talk and he took the opportunity to tell the General that the Ya Na was not safe in Yendi and the General replied that he (PW8) should tell the Ya Na that Accra had sent 60 soldiers to come to Yendi to assist.

He claimed the General had told him to tell the Ya Na that he should feel free and if the need arises they will re-impose the curfew and then handed the telephone to the DCE.

He said after the phone call, the DCE and Minister started arguing and trying to shift the blame on one another claiming “the DCE blamed the Minister for having come to Yendi to remove the curfew.”

He said the Minister at a point said they should leave them to fight and whoever becomes victorious should be and he (Minister) said he was on his way to Accra.
PW8 said they left the Minister’s lodge and came out to pray and during the ablution he saw that the DCE (A8) and A14 were wearing local bulletproof under their dresses.

He said they returned to Yendi and went straight to the Divisional Police Headquarters and met the BNI officer called Derry and another police officer who said there were about 100 policemen and water cannons in town.

He said around 9pm he was taken to the military barracks together with the DCE, the BNI man and the police officer to join the soldiers there and when the BNI man requested security around the palace the army officer said he was not taking instructions from anybody.

He said after a while he realized the security could not help to stop the fighting so he left and hid himself and on the next day March 27, 2002 the fighting intensified.

During cross-examination by defense counsel Phillip Addison PW8 said he did not testify at the Wuaku Commission (The body set up by President Kufuor to investigate the murder of the Ya Na) because he was not invited and told the court that he was not interested in what was going on at the commission.

He denied that the Andanis put pressure on him not to go to Wuaku to say he had been to Tamale with the DCE because the DCE was his friend.

Where were you on March 25, 2002?

Witness: I was at home in Yendi

Counsel: You did not go to work

Witness: I was at home. (Then witness changed his statement to) I was at work. I thought 25th was a Sunday.

Counsel: Did anything happened on that day

Witness: We heard single gunshots towards the palace.

Counsel: How did you know?

Witness: When I hear the sound of single barrel gun I can know. When I hear the sound of AK 47 or G3 I can know. I heard the sound of single barrel gun.

Counsel: Did you find out who was firing

Witness: No

Counsel: You were not interested at all

Witness: No

Counsel: Who told you the palace was under attack

Witness: I can’t disclose it (Counsel probed further and witness said) It was women who were running from town towards Gushegu road.

When counsel put it to him that General Hamidu could not have passed on a message to the Ya Na through him (PW8) when there were political and regional heads the witness said it was because the DCE and the Minister could not go to the palace.

When counsel also suggested to him that the DCE, Minister and the General all testified at Wuaku and did not say they spoke to the witnesses on telephone; PW8 said “I spoke to a voice on phone.”

When challenged that the piece of evidence was not in his statement, PW8 said “looking at my educational background I can express myself freely than when I put it on paper.”

He admitted travelling with the DCE’s driver in the same vehicle from Tamale to Accra in May 2010 when the police invited him to give his statement and said they conversed on their way to Accra.

Sitting continues on Tuesday October 12, 2010.

POTAG on Warpath

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday October 9, 2010
DESPITE A directive by the National Labour Commission (NLC), DAILY GUIDE can confirm that polytechnic lecturers are still on strike.

National President of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), Godfred Abledu in a telephone interview on Thursday said the association had not received any directive from the NLC to resume work.

He said the meeting that POTAG had with the NLC together with Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and Conference of Polytechnic Rectors on September 8, 2010 did not last for more than two minutes and wondered the basis for the NLC’s directive.

“The NLC at that short meeting asked the FWSC to respond to the demands raised by POTAG and the meeting was fixed for September 15, 2010, so we do not understand where this directive is coming from.”

Mr. Abledu said POTAG has directed its organizing secretary who is based in Accra to contact the NLC for details.

The NLC on September 8, 2010 in a directive signed by Edward Briku-Boadu for Executive Secretary of the Commission said “the POTAG should call off its strike action immediately and return to normal duties.”

The commission also directed the parties in dispute – National POTAG, Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics and the FWSC to appear before the commission on September 15, 2010.

The directive was copied to the Minister of Education, the Executive Secretary of National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the Chief Executive of FWSC and the Chairmen of Council of the Polytechnics.

The POTAG on September 2, 2010 started what they called “a nationwide sit down strike” with immediate effect because government had refused to negotiate for their conditions of service.

POTAG had said government has not listened to them since their conditions of service expired in 2008.

“We had an emergency meeting early this week in Koforidua over the issue of our conditions of service and we have unanimously resolved to withdraw our services to press home for improved conditions of service,” Mr. Abledu said at the time.

Registered about 10 years ago as a labour union, POTAG has over 1000 members scattered all over polytechnics in the country.

No show at Ya Na Trial

Security is always tight at the trail.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday October 7, 2010
The Prosecution Witness (PW) who was supposed to testify yesterday at the trial of the 15 accused persons charged for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon did not up.

The trial has been running uninterrupted and the prosecution had promised that it was inviting its eighth witness (PW8) but ended up disappointing the court, compelling it to adjourn the case until tomorrow (Friday October 8, 2010).

On the Bill of Indictment the Attorney General’s Department has indicated that it intends to bring 14 witnesses to testify in the trial and already six witnesses have appeared in court to testify.

The prosecution at a point substituted PW3 for PW6 and the defense team led by Phillip Addison has always complained to the court presided over by Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal that the prosecution has not been furnishing them with statements of their clients on time; a development which counsel says could affect speedy trial.

At about 10:15 am yesterday Rexford Wiredu and Solomon Atadi both Principal State Attorneys prosecuting the case entered the court room with Iddrisu Mutawakil (PW6) holding their books and other documents and Mr. Wiredu headed straight to where defense lawyers Phillip Addison and Abukari Abdulai were already seated and after conferring with them both defense and prosecution entered the judge’s chamber.

At exactly 10:45the parties came out of the judge’s chamber and sat on the bench.

A female court clerk after about two minutes gave this announcement: “By court: At the request of the prosecution, this case is adjourned to October 8, 2010. This is because the intended witness has failed to turn up.”

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand in police custody except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Since trial started scores of police officers with riot control equipment including weapons have been patrolling the court premises to deter supporters of both Abudu and Andani gates who are always poised to physically settle their scores.

Drama at Ya Na Trial

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday Ocyober 6, 2010
There was ‘comic relief’ at an Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday during the trial of 15 people who have been charged for killing Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon.

The Seventh Prosecution Witness (PW7), Wumbei Binchera, who moments before completing his evidence-in-chief appeared to be shedding tears upon hearing about the overlord’s death, occasionally threw the courtroom into laughter when he was cross-examined, attracting laughter from the accused persons.

In one of such incidents, when the lead counsel for the accused, Phillip Addison put it to him that he had seen him talking to a lady in English in the morning before the trial, Binchera who spoke Dagbani said he tried to speak Dagbani, Ashanti and Hausa but since it was giving him problems he decided to speak his ‘little’ English to the lady, sparking laughter in the courtroom.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.
Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Led in evidence by Solomon Atadi, a Principal State Attorney, Binchera, a watchman told the court, presided over by Justice EK Ayebi that on March 25, 2002 when the intra-ethnic conflict between Abudu and Andani Royal gates started he went to the farm and on his way he saw A3 and A10 sitting in their house, adding that A10 told him that “we are going to kill all Andanis.”

He said when he returned from the farm he went straight to his workplace in Yendi and spent the night there and in the morning of March 26, 2002 when he was returning home he heard that the Gbewaa Palace was under attack by the Abudus.

PW7 said whilst at home he did not move anywhere because he was afraid and added that he later saw an armour car moving around after which he saw one Ayooma and one of the accused persons shooting towards the palace around 3:30 pm.

He said he left for work at about 5pm and saw a Benz bus with soldiers lying beside it and later saw one soldier speaking Dagbani on phone.

“At about 8pm the DCE came in a car and the soldier asked him ‘have you killed the chief or taken him out of the house?”, but during cross examination, the same witness said the soldier spoke English.

He said the DCE, who he (the witness) claimed wore a white local bulletproof, had replied that they had not been able to kill the chief neither had they succeeded in removing him from the palace.

PW7 said he remained at the workplace until March 27, 2002 when on his way home he heard the sound of a drum signifying that the king had been killed.

During cross-examination, the witness said he could not remember the date he gave his statement to the police and the date on which an announcement was made for people to provided information about the conflict at the Yendi Police Station.

Counsel: Have you heard about Wuaku Commission?

Witness: I saw it

Counsel: What was it about?

Witness: The reason is that after the incident, an announcement was made in Yendi that anybody who has information can come to the Yendi Police Station.

Counsel: Were you invited to Wuaku Commission?

Witness: I was invited and I went. I went there and what I said was useless to them

Counsel: You were invited but you did not turn up.

Witness: I went there and I was not given the chance to talk. I was there on three occasions.

Counsel then told the court that Binchera’s name was among those who the commission invited but never appeared before the commission as captured in the commission’s report.

Counsel: If you had appeared before the commission, an opportunity would have been given to the DCE (A8) to challenge you on what you are saying today.

Witness: I did not go and he also did not go so we have all become the same … (drawing more laughter from the audience)

Counsel: Did you see Andanis being fired at.

Witness: They attacked the palace and anybody who was there.

Counsel: Who were in the palace?

Witness: Men and women (drawing laughter)

When counsel insisted that PW7 should mention those in the palace that he claims the Abudus were firing at, Binchera said after the king had been killed he was so frightened that he could not even go home but went straight to Tamale.

He said he did not see a single Andani firing a gun but saw Abudus firing at the palace and even remarked “those I mentioned were not killed through car accident. They were killed.”

PW7’s remarks prompted the judge to ask the prosecution to warn the witness not to give answers that seek to insult the intelligence of the court.

Counsel: Did you see who the Abudus were firing at?

Witness: It was not easy for me. I did not see the one they were firing at but I saw them firing.

He told the court that he is an Abudu but when counsel suggested to him that he had said the Abudus were attacking and he being an Abudu did not need to fear, he changed his statement to “I am an Andani,” explaining that his father is an Abudu and his mother an Andani.

He said when the DCE came to meet the soldier at 8pm he was standing very close to them but said the two did not see him but he (witness) could see them.

He noted that it was not true that the DCE went to Tamale together with an Andani and Abudu on the day in question even though documents at the Wuaku Commission showed that the DCE was there (Tamale) and his car parked at the Yendi Police Station.

Sitting continues today.

Workshop on culture and dev’t ends

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday October 6, 2010
A TWO-DAY workshop aimed at making culture an integral part of the country’s development agenda has ended in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital with a call on government to support the National Commission on Culture (CNC) to play an effective role in national development.

It was organized by the CNC with sponsorship from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for Cultural and Development Planning Officers in both the Eastern and Greater Accra regions.

At the workshop, participants were taken through how to integrate culture into the domains of national development planning processes in order to accelerate poverty reduction and wealth creation, create institutional linkages with the district assemblies for effective cultural administration and evolve mutually beneficial cultural programmes and activities to accelerate poverty reduction.

Opening the workshop, Michael Attipoe, Director of Finance and Administration of the National Commission on Culture said the 1992 Constitution has provisions which ensure that culture is used as a tool for national integration and development saying “Article 39 of the Constitution under the Directive Principles of State Policy captures this succinctly.”

He said with the creation of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, the commission on culture has reverted to the implementation of policies to ensure there is a linkage between culture and development.

Mr. Attipoe asked cultural officers to work closely with the district assemblies to identify cultural projects for development adding “we should be able to promote textile production, cottage industries, craftworks and other projects that do not call for huge budgets.”

George Obeng, Eastern Regional Direct of CNC said culture could create a lot of wealth and employment for the youth if it is properly harnessed.

He said the assemblies could support the ministry to establish cultural villages in all the regions as a means of helping to solve unemployment in the country and called for the inclusion of cultural projects in district planning processes.

Isaac Owusu-Mensah, Senior Programmes Manager of KAS who stood in for the resident representative underscored the need for a close collaboration between cultural officers and the assemblies to ensure that culture is properly integrated into the development agenda of the districts.

“There is a correlation between culture and development. The processes of development are not solely related to economic and social factors but fundamentally a question of human development ranging from history, values, self-understanding and all the other processes of social interaction.”

He promised KAS’ commitment to support development of the country and help in the fight to reduce poverty.

Nana clears air on Odwira

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 5, 2010
The office of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer has debunked news making rounds that he arrived in the middle of the Odwira Festival which was celebrated by the chiefs and people of Akwapim in the Eastern Region last Friday.

The police, upon orders from their boss, formed a ‘human shield’ around the dais to stop Nana Akufo-Addo in his tracks from reaching the government delegation, just as Nii Lantey Vanderpuye stopped him from greeting Cape Coast chiefs and President Atta Mills during the Oguaa Fetu Afahye last month causing intense media debate.

But a release issued in Accra and signed by Herbert Krapa an aide to NPP flag bearer said “It was another fifteen minutes after Nana Akufo-Addo exchanged pleasantries and sat down before the program started. He did not arrive in the middle of the program.”

“It is not true that Nana Akufo-Addo arrived late at the durbar grounds. His movement all the way to the durbar grounds until he took his seat by the right hand side of the Okuapehene was in strict adherence to instructions given him by the protocol officers of the Okuapeman Traditional Council.”

The release said Nana Akufo-Addo, per the invitation given him by the Okuapeman Traditional Council was asked to be present at 1:30pm on Friday, October 1, 2010 and added “On his way, he received correspondence from the organizers that the program had delayed and he will be notified once it was okay for him to arrive.”

“Nana Akufo-Addo respectfully agreed and waited in Akropong until he received further instructions from the protocol officers of the event and he immediately proceeded to the durbar grounds, which was a short distance from the house where he was waiting.”

The release said on his arrival, Nana Akufo-Addo was received and led by protocol officers of the durbar (aides from the palace) to greet the Okuapehene, Nana Addo Dankwa III, Chiefs and Queen mothers and all other invited dignitaries present saying “that when Nana Akufo-Addo and his delegation of three others, led by the MP for Akropong, William Ofori Boafo got to the dais, where the government officials were seated, a cordon of Police officers rushed forward with arms stretched to stop them from climbing the dais saying “No greeting, you cannot greet the Regional Minister.”

It said when the police decided not to allow them neither Nana Akufo-Addo nor any member of his delegation offered any word of protest and the NPP flagbearer turned to take a seat reserved for him at the right hand side of the Okuapehene, his traditional grandfather.

The release said Eastern Regional Minister, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, after his speech went to greet the Okuapehene, Nana Addo Dankwa III and also shook hands with Nana Akufo-Addo, which action Mr. Ofosu Ampofo repeated when he was leaving the program.

“This is not true as Nana Akufo-Addo was not late in arriving at the durbar grounds. Indeed, Nana Akufo-Addo acted in strict accordance with the protocol instructions given him by the Okuapeman Traditional Council.”

Contradictions at Ya Na Trial

Some of the accused persons leaving the court premises under security escort.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 5, 2010
Prosecution Witnesses (PWs) appearing in the trial of 15 persons including the former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon continue to contradict each other’s evidence before the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice E.K Ayebi of the Court of Appeal.

On September 12, 2010, Abukari Amadu, the first Prosecution Witness (PW1) told the court that when a letter that imposed a curfew on Yendi was brought due to the Bugum (Fire) Festival the Ya Na invited the DCE, Mohammed Habib Tijani (8th accused) several times to come and explain the decision but he (DCE) did not honour the invitation before the Ya Na invited the then Regional Minister, Prince Imoro Andani to the Gbewaa palace to explain the decision.

He said that the Minister explained issues to the Ya Na and asked for permission to confer with the Abudus over the issue and when he (Minister) returned to the palace to brief the Ya Na again he was in the company of the DCE who was holding a talisman and wearing a yellow T-shirt.

But when he took his turn yesterday, the sixth prosecution witness (PW6) Iddrisu Mutawakil, listed as PW7 on the bill of indictment, contradicted PW1’s evidence, insisting that the Regional Minister did not come back to the palace with the DCE.

“I was with the Ya Na throughout when the Regional Minister returned to brief the Ya Na he (Minister) was with two people but the DCE was not among them.”

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Led in evidence by Solomon Atadi, Principal State Attorney, Mutawakil, who could explain issues in English but insisted on speaking Dagbani, said on March 27, 2002, a telephone call came in and it was one Nantongma Andani who picked up the call, adding that he warned them to vacate the palace because they were going to be killed contrary to evidence of PW1 that he (Abukari Amadu-PW1) had picked an unknown phone call and the person, who indicated that he was Abukari, asked the Ya Na to leave the palace because the Abudus were going to kill him.

Mutawakil, a voluntary teacher said he was at the palace throughout the siege and did not hold a weapon or fire a gun but at the Wuaku Commission (the commission set up by President Kufuor to investigate the killing of the Ya Na and his elders) where he testified as the 17th Witness he had said he carried a cutlass to face the Abudus.

He said at no point did the Ya Na order inmates of the palace to fire at the Abudus, saying, “I was with the Ya Na throughout and he asked us not to go anywhere,” contradicting the evidence of the other witnesses that the Ya Na, when the fighting intensified, ordered them to fire and kill the Abudus.

Counsel (Phillip Addison): At the time you heard the Abudus shooting where were you?

Witness: I was in the palace.

Counsel: And you heard the Abudus shooting

Witness: Yes

Counsel: So at no time did inmates in the palace come outside to shoot back.

Witness: Others were shooting. Some were inside the palace others were outside.

Counsel: Did Ya Na direct you to go out and meet the Abudus?

Witness: He did not say so.

Counsel: So the youth came out to fight by themselves without anybody directing them.
Witness: Yes, but I was not firing.

He told the court that he did not know how the Ya Na’s wives and children left the palace and also said that he did not know if it was the Ya Na who had ordered the wives and children to leave.

He claimed that he saw the DCE in local bullet proof attire sitting on a motor bike and leading an armour car, which passed behind the palace and moved towards the Bolinlana’s palace and moments later, the Abudus started firing again contrary to his evidence at the commission that he only saw an armour car which passed several times and never mentioned that the DCE was sitting on any motorbike.

He also told the court in his evidence-in-chief that he was shot in the neck and showed the court what he says are scars of the on his neck but never told the commission about it and when counsel wanted to find out why he did not tell the commission,

He replied “I said and it was the commission that did not write all that I said.”

Mutawakil said the Ya Na wore a multi-coloured smock during the siege and said it was Samasama and another accused person who dragged the Ya Na’s body but counsel put it to him that at the commission the witness did not give this piece of evidence to which he (PW7) replied “I say this whenever I am called to talk about the case”

Counsel: Did you testify at the trial of Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Janfo.

Witness: Yes

Counsel: Your testimony at the Yidana trial was rejected.

Witness: I cannot compel the court to accept my evidence.

Counsel: Your evidence that was rejected at that trial, you are bringing it here to testify against these 15 people.

Witness: I am giving my testimony.

Sitting continues today.

Power Vacuum created in Ghana

Mrs. Justice Joyce Banford Addo is a retired Supreme Court judge and Ghana's Speaker of Parliament.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday October 2, 2010
Ghana was left open and without a President for hours because Vice President John Mahama who was supposed to act in the absence of President John Evans Atta Mills was also in Nigeria for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary celebration of the West African neighbour.

As at 2:00pm yesterday October 1, 2010 there was a power vacuum in Ghana as both the president and the Vice-President had left the shores of the country.
Incidentally there was a massive bomb blast in Abuja a few meters from where the vice president had joined Nigerians to celebrate their golden jubilee. Ten persons were reportedly killed.

Speaker Joyce Bamford Addo was later sworn in as president several hours later by a handful of members of parliament.

Vice President Mahama had left Accra for Abuja early yesterday and it took parliament several hours to swear in the Speaker of Parliament, Mrs. Joyce Bamford Addo as acting President of Ghana.

She acted as President for a few hours until the Vice President returned from Abuja. President Mills is currently in Japan doing government business.

The swearing in of the Speaker of Parliament as acting President is in conformity of Article 60(11) and (12) of the 1992 constitution which states that the Speaker of Parliament must be sworn in and take over as President of the country in the absence of the President and his Vice but the constitutional blunder caused by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government continues to receive flak from some sections of the public.

President John Evans Atta Mills and his Vice John Dramani Mahama were in Japan and Nigeria respectively on official business and although letters were dispatched by their respective offices to the Speaker of Parliament who is next in line of succession a yawning power vacuum was created temporarily.

The Speaker of Parliament issued a statement recalling parliament from their recess for her swearing in ceremony in late afternoon yesterday.

The power vacuum created raised concerns particularly in the media over what was seen as the government could commit such a blunder.

Atta Akyea, private legal practitioner and MP said the issue of who acts in the absence of the President should not be an issue because it is clearly explained under Article 60 (8) of the 1992 Republican Constitution.

He said taking into consideration the Order of Pre-eminence in Article 57 (2) of the 1992 Constitution, the Vice President acts in the absence of the President and in order not to create any power vacuum, the Speaker of Parliament and then the Chief Justice follows in that order.

He said the Speaker or the Chief Justice does not even have to swear an oath to act as President because by use of parity of reason under Article 57 (2) and by operation of law the framers of the constitution are clear on what should be done.

But Ace Ankomah another legal practitioner disagreed and said the Speaker needs to swear the Presidential Oath if she is to act as President.

He said “when the Speaker was appointed and was approved by Parliament she swore the Parliamentary oath. Therefore if she is acting as the President then she has to swear the Presidential Oath.”

Ace described the temporary power vacuum as a slip in timing. “Somebody should be more alert”, he said.

During the World, both the President and the Vice President had left shores of the country for South Africa with nobody appointed acting president, leaving Ghanaians like orphans, for some hours.

More Drama At Ya Na Trial

Accused persons under police escort.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday September 30, 2010
The proceedings of the Wuaku Commission, the body set up by President Kufuor to investigate the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon in 2002 continues to raise questions about the credibility and integrity of witnesses testifying in the trial of 15 persons accused of killing the king and some of his elders.

The denial of testimonies under oath at the Wuaku Commission including some of the statements given to the police at the time continues to be a feature of the Prosecution Witnesses’ (PWs) evidence in the current trial.

They are even denying some of the statement they have given to the police this year in connection with the current trial.

Since trial commenced, five witnesses have appeared before the Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal to give evidence on events in Yendi in 2002 but such testimonies are far at variance with their testimonies the same witnesses gave at.

When defense counsel, Phillip Addison confronts them on such events by reading excerpts of the commission’s proceedings some of them could be seen muffling laughter before giving particular response: “I did not say this at the Commission.

The commission wrote what they like. The commission did not write what I said well”. This response runs through their evidence.

The 15 men including the former District Chief Executive of Yendi have been charged for killing the Ya Na and some of his elders during the intra ethnic chieftaincy conflict in Dagbon between Abudus and Andanis in March 2002.

The accused are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused respectively.

All 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and murder and are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

When he took his turn yesterday, the fifth Prosecution Witness (PW5) Yakubu Mahama aka Puu Mahama, a security man at Tamale VAT led in evidence by Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney told the court that he was shot at the thigh by an Abudu called Ayooma and not any of the 15 on trial on March 25, 2002 and was subsequently admitted at the Yendi Hospital and whilst there the DCE (A8) and some people he described as strangers came to visit the wounded and the DCE told him that it was because the Ya Na was not listening to advice that is why he has been killed.

But when counsel, Phillip Addison confronted Mahama during cross-examination with his testimony at the commission where he (witness) did not mention any the DCE as visiting the hospital on March 27, 2002, he said insisted he did mention the DCE.

Counsel: Your sole purpose today is to bare false witness against the DCE (A8)?

Witness: I am not here to tell lies about the DCE.

Counsel: I put it to you that what you are saying has never been said about A8 anywhere including Wuaku Commission?

Witness: I have said this to the police when I was giving my statement. I told Wuaku Commission about this.

Counsel: You never said so

Witness: I said it in Dagbani if they never wrote it then I do not know.

PW5 continued that whilst at the hospital the bodies of the dead were brought there in batches and he saw the body of the Ya Na even though a soldier attempted to prevent him from watching the king’s body but at Wuaku the same PW5 had said a policeman did not allow him to see the body because of the state in which he (PW5) was and this also contradicted evidence of the other witnesses that the Ya Na’s body wan burnt.

He had also told the court that a pastor he worked for in Yendi came for him from the hospital to Tamale to receive further treatment after the DCE’s threats contrary to evidence at Wuaku that it was his brother who came for him to Tamale.

Concluding his evidence earlier, the PW4 Alhassan Yakubu he stayed in a hotel with the other witnesses when he came down from Tamale to give his statement and admitted they conversed over issues but not on in this case saying “I spent four days in a hotel in Accra with the other witnesses. We cannot meet together without conversing but we did not discuss this case.”

He told the court that the Gbewaa Palace was his home but when probed further by counsel he backtracked and said he goes there frequently.

Counsel: When did you get to the palace?

Witness: I got there on the 26th of March, 2002.

Counsel: But at the Wuaku Commission you testified that you left the Yendi Secondary School and entered the place on March 27, 2002. Your evidence is at variance with what was said at the commission.

Witness: It is exactly what I said. They (Commission) did not write it well. They went and wrote my statement the way they want.

Counsel: Apart from the Ya Na and his wives and children, nobody stays in the palace
Witness: It is not true.

Counsel: Gbewaa Palace cannot be your house, I put it to you.
Witness: I agree to that.

PW4 further told the court that when he entered the palace he hid himself there until about 9am on March 27, 2002 when he came out and he saw Saibu (PW3), Abukari Amadu, Alhassan Andani, one Yakubu and Idris Mutawarki as well as other such as a man called Red all holding guns and firing at the Abudus, contrary to the evidence of Saibu (PW3) that he did not fire a gun even said he did not know how to handle a gun.

He had told the court on September 28, 2010 that when he entered the palace there were few Andanis but they were able to push the Abudus back by firing at them but just a day after, the same witness said there were a lot of people in the palace when he got there and could not recognize most of them.

At the commission PW4 said he had seen two photographers (Nyaa and Jaki) at the place where the Ya Na’s decapitated body was burnt but in this trial he said he saw only Nyaa but counsel put it to him that he had deliberately left out the name Jaki because he was an Andani to which he replied “I said I saw Nyaa and the commission wrote it the way they like.”

Sitting continues on October 4, 2010

Witness drops bombshell at Ya Na trial

Accused entering a police van.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday September 29, 2010
The Fourth Prosecution Witness (PW4) in the Ya Na Trial, Alhassan Yakubu aka Nat yesterday dropped a bombshell when he told a packed Fast Track High Court in Accra that it was Yidana Sugri (the man who was acquitted and discharged for killing the Ya Na) who held the severed hand of the Dagbon overlord and said he did not see any of the 15 accused persons currently on trial killing the Ya Na.

He insisted yesterday under cross-examination by counsel for the 15 accused Phillip Addison, that when he testified in the trial of Sugri and Iddrisu Janfo in 2003 he had told the court then presided over by Justice Yaw Apau currently with the Court of Appeal that it was Sugri who held the Ya Na’s severed hand but did not say he(Sugri) killed him neither did he see anybody use dormer machine to cut the head and hand of the Ya Na.

Counsel: Do you know Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Janfo?

Witness: I know them.

Counsel: Do you know they were charged, acquitted and discharged for killing the Ya Na?

Witness: I am aware.

Counsel: The allegation during the trial was that Yidana Sugri was the one who killed the Ya Na?

Witness: They said so.

Counsel: In this trial they say somebody else decapitated the Ya Na?

Witness: He (Sugri) was holding the severed hand of the Ya Na.

Counsel: Yet you testified in the trial that he (Sugri) killed the Ya Na

Witness: I said he was holding the severed hand of the Ya Na. I did not say he killed the Ya Na.

Counsel: You are not telling this court the truth?

Witness: What I am saying is what I said at the Wuaku Commission and they (Commission) wrote it in their own way.

Counsel: At the time you testified at both Wuaku and the Sugri trial, you did not say you saw the Ya Na being decapitated by anybody but you are trying to say so in this trial?

Witness: I did not see it. I heard the sound of a machine used in cutting woods. I did not see the person who was operating the machine.

Alhassan Yakubu, the PW4 who was led in evidence by Rexford Wiredu, Principal State Attorney was testifying in the case in which the 15 men including the former District Chief Executive of Yendi have been charged for killing the Ya Na and some of his elders during the intra ethnic chieftaincy conflict in Dagbon between Abudus and Andanis in March 2002.

The accused are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused respectively.

All 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and murder and are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

Continuing his cross-examination, Alhassan Yakubu (PW4), a trader, had told the court in his evidence-in-chief that he was unemployed at the time the conflict started in Yendi but at the Wuaku Commission he said he was a student and repeated it in his statement to the police in the current trial but when pressed further he said “by that time I had completed school. The one who wrote my statement did not write it well.”

He said in his evidence-in-chief that he had gone to visit a friend called Abdul Aziz at Yendi Secondary School on March 25, 2002 when he heard gunshots and later saw people running from the town and was later told that the Abudus were attacking the Gbewaa Palace and being an Andani he feared for his life and spent the night hiding in the school.

But pointed to him that when he testified at the Wuaku Commission he had said at the school it was one of the masters who had advised the students including the witness to stay there because there was conflict in the Yendi town but PW4 insisted “Wuako Commission wrote what they wanted to write”.

He admitted that when he entered the palace on 26th March 2002 and the place came under gunfire attack from the Abudus the inmates of the palace who he said were not many were able to fired back to repel the attackers and shot at them until they (Abudus) started burning down the palace and they run to hide at the Katine (where they burry the Ya Nas) but later move to lie at a place where there were packed fire woods.

He claimed that whilst there he saw two of the accused persons dragging the Ya Na who also resisted them contradicting Imrana Saibu’s (PW3) evidence that he lied about 30 meters and saw two of the accused dragging the lifeless body of the Ya Na.

He also told the court that they were six including Saibu PW3 lying by the firewood contrary to the evidence of Saibu that he lied there alone and saw some of the accused persons using dormer machine to cut off the head and hand of the Ya Na.

Concluding his cross-examination Saibu (PW3) insisted that the Ya Na son asked him to bring the satellite dish to Yendi after it had been sent to Tamale from Wa but at Wuaku Commission he had said he was asked by a friend to come to Yendi to cart the dish away because the place was volatile and anything could happen to the dish.

Furthermore at Wuaku Commission the witness testified that whilst six of them lied down beside the firewood he could not get up to see what was happening because he had been shot was in pain and that it was one Amadu who would occasionally get up and watch and tell him what was happening contrary to his evidence in the current trial that he was alone and saw how some of the accused persons had cut the Ya Na’s head and hand with a machine and set fire to the body with and some taking photographs with the severed head in turns.

Counsel also said hospital records presented before the commission showed that Saibu was admitted at the Yendi Hospital on March 27, 2002 and discharged the next day on the 28th of March 2002 but he said under cross-examination in the current trial that he was in the hospital from Wednesday March 27, 2002 to Saturday March 30, 2002 insisting “the hospital is lying.”

At Wuaku Commission the witness had testified that he could not identify the prison officer he met after escaping from the palace because he was in pains and said it was one Thomas who could identify him (prison officer) but in this trial he said he could identify him.

Interestingly, anytime the witnesses were confronted with their testimony at the Wuako Commission they said one thing: “the commission wrote it the way they liked and even disputed some of the statements they gave to the police this year in connection with the trial.

Sitting continues today for PW4 to face further cross-examination.

Police grab NPP gurus...Over Atiwa

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday September 29, 2010
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has invited three leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the Police Headquarters in Accra to assist in the investigation of the ‘murder’ of three persons during the Atiwa by-election.

Those summoned are NPP national chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, aka Sir John, General Secretary of the party and Ms. Frances Asiam.

A pressure group, the Media Analyst Group, had petitioned the police over the claimed that the NPP gurus had stated on radio stations that some NDC officials had caused the death of some people during the recent Atiwa by-election.

The letter of invitation signed by P.K Agblor, Acting Director-General of CID with reference CI D/ER. 421/2010/5, states: “The Criminal Investigations Department has received a written complaint from the Chairman of the Media Analyst Group indicating that the National Chairman of the NPP Hon. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the General Secretary of the same party, Mr. Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John and Ms Frances Asiam, a ranking member of the party have accused the group of being responsible for the murder of some three unidentified persons at Atiwa during the recent by-election.

“You are therefore being requested to report to the Deputy Director General/CID on the 2nd Floor of the CID building on Friday October 1, 2010 at 1100 hours to assist in the investigation,” the letter said.

Political analysts are of the view that the police by inviting the NPP leaders are trying to balance the scales and pacify the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) whose National Chairman Dr. Kwabena Agyei was recently invited by the police for threatening to clean the judiciary with his infamous “several ways of killing a cat statement.”

The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), a pressure group, had lodged a complaint at the Nima Police Station in Accra on September 9, seeking the arrest of the NDC National Chairman for making statements that sought to threaten the judiciary.

Ripples from that outburst which attracted a reaction from the association of judges and magistrates continue to feature in local politics.

Upon lodging the complaint, the police invited Dr. Adjei to the CID headquarters for questioning but he never showed up.

Immediately AFAG lodged the complaint, the Media Analyst Group, on September 15, 2010, also called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Paul Quaye, to effect the arrest of Jake, Sir John and Frances for allegedly making unsubstantiated reports which caused fear and panic during the Atiwa by-election.

The group had claimed that Frances Asiam was categorical in an interview that two people had died on the day of voting in the Atiwa by-election. This allegation later proved to be false when the police and hospital authorities spoke to the contrary.

The co-ordinator of the Media Analyst Group, Alfred Triddle, speaking to Peace FM, said the comment by Frances Asiam, which was subsequently echoed by Jake and Sir John, was very serious statement and needed police investigations.

Meanwhile, Frances says she has some funeral to attend during the weekend and would rather report to the police on Monday, while Sir John, according to sources, is yet to receive his invitation.

I did not see Ya Na’s death - witness

Ya Na Yakubu Andani II was the overlord of Dagbon.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday September 28, 2010
The third prosecution witness (PW3), Imrana Saibu in the Ya Na trial who claimed he was there and saw Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon being killed by the Abudus yesterday gave contradictory evidence before an Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal.

In his evidence-in-chief Saibu had told the packed court that when the main hall of the palace where the Ya Na was started burning he saw the king being pursued by the Abudu warriors and firing at him in the Gbewaa Palace but during cross-examination he said everybody at the palace run for his lives so he did not know what happened to the king but only saw two of the accused persons later dragging the king’s body.

“At the time I was jumping the wall to hide myself, the Ya Na was not dead but I saw two of his elders lying down. I did not know where the Ya Na was when I was jumping the wall.”

He also told the court in his evidence-in-chief that he was the first to jump a wall and entered the Katine (the place where the Ya Nas are buried) but in his evidence-in-chief the witness told the court that when he got there he saw one Nantongma, Alhassan Andani (Ya Na’s son), Abukari Amadu and other young men already hiding there.

The witness was testifying in the case in which 15 men including the former District Chief Executive of Yendi have been charged for killing the Ya Na and some of his elders during the intra ethnic chieftaincy conflict in Dagbon between Abudus and Andanis in March 2002.

The accused are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused respectively.

All 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and murder and are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

Cross-examined by Phillip Addison, counsel for the accused Saibu, who is a nurse by profession contradicted his statement in the summary of evidence which stated that he had said the Ya Na ordered that women and children in the palace be evacuated when the fighting intensified saying “I did not see something like that. All that I told the police is what I have said here.

He said he did not know when Ziblim (PW2) was sent by the Ya Na but in his summary of evidence he said he was there when Ziblim was sent.

He denied that he had told the Wuaku Commission that Alhassan Andani who asked him to come to Yendi to evacuate the satellite dish due to the volatile situation in Yendi at the time insisting that he was rather asked to bring the equipment to Yendi.

Saibu who according to the prosecution was listed as PW6 but was brought in as PW3 further denied that they were in front of the palace under a baobab tree firing to push back the Abudus saying “I was not one of the warriors fighting to defend the Ya Na. I do not even know how to use a gun”, but admitted that the Ya Na also ordered them to fire back at the Abudus and that there were a lot of single barrel guns in the palace.

“You cannot sit in your house and be attacked and would not do anything about it. We also fired at the Abudus with our guns.”

He disagreed with counsel that they evacuated the palace when they realized that their armoury had caught fire insisting that there was no such armoury but later admitted there were single barrel guns in the palace saying “every palace in Ghana has guns. The Dagombas also manufacture guns.”

He again told the court that he saw the inmates in the palace firing at the Abudus and then changed quickly to say “I did not know who they were shooting at”.

He said he had not wronged any member of the Abudus for him to be a target but said he did not find it prudent to leave the palace when he knew he was not a member of the palace and when the fighting subsided explaining that “I feared I would be hit by stray bullets.”

He also insisted that a helicopter passed during the night when the fighting was going on and landed at an airstrip about half a mile from the palace but counsel put it to him that there was no such incident and even the airstrip is about four miles away from the palace.

He had told the commission that the firing stopped at 3pm on 26th March 2002 but in court yesterday he said the firing stopped on 6pm and again explained that “at the commission I said it stopped at 1pm and intensified at 3pm.”

He had said he could not leave the palace when the fighting subsided for fear of being hit by a stray bullet on March 26, 2002 but said on the 27th of March 2002 he had to leave amid firing.

At the commission the witness said he was hit by bullets on both legs but in the trial he said his buttocks was included and also said that his attackers did not follow up to kill him adding “I was lying on the floor when I saw A4 and A12 pulling the body of the Ya Na.”

When counsel put it to him that he did not mention Zakaria Forest (A7) at the commission as the person who had used the dormer machine to cut the Ya Na’s head and hand he said “I said it. May be the commission did not write it.”

After long and heated arguments about the authenticity of proceedings of the Wuaku Commission (set up by President JA Kufuor in 2002) that investigated the killing of the Ya Na, overlord of Dagbon and some of his elders finally admitted the proceedings into evidence.

The prosecution had insisted that the Attorney-Generals’ Department did not have a copy of the proceedings which are in four volumes and that what was being tendered was not authentic but defense counsel argued that once the court was searching for the truth they were willing to assist the court by providing the proceedings.

The judge in admitting the document said the defense has been able to comply with Section 162 (b) of the Evidence Decree (Act) and the prosecution had provided no document to contradict what defense counsel was seeking to tender in evidence.