A 32-year-old driver has been sentenced to nine months in prison by the Assin Fosu District court after falsely accusing a police officer and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of amassing firearms in preparation for the 2024 elections. Ebenezer Asare, the defendant, entered a guilty plea to the charge of publishing false information and prayed with the court, Major Illiasu Iddrisu, for mercy. He entered a not guilty plea to count two, which involved theft. The complainant was identified by prosecuting sergeant Matilda Boabeng as the NPP’s national first vice chairman.
The defendant, according to the prosecution, went to Mr. Smith Danquah’s home in Assin Fosu on Sunday, February 5, 2023, claiming to have some extremely important information for him. The prisoner identified himself as a KIA truck driver who frequently made the trip from Budumburam to Assin-Dompim in the Central Region’s Fosu Municipality. The inmate allegedly claimed that some high-ranking NDC members had hired him to deliver weapons and ammunition from Budumbura to Assin-Dompim in advance of the 2024 election.
The prosecution claims that the defendant also stated that Superintendent Daniel Kwabena Darkoh, the crime officer for the recently established Central North Regional Command, had been tasked with accompanying the NDC team carrying the claimed weapons to its designated location. The prosecution said that the convict supplied the complainant the crime officer’s phone number, supposedly confirming the allegations. According to the prosecution, the defendant wanted GHS $200.00 from the complainant after giving the aforementioned information, and the complainant duly complied with the request. According to the prosecution, the defendant intermittently sought money while promising to keep the complainant informed of the location of the crew delivering the weapons.
Meanwhile, all efforts to hear from the Convict thereafter proved futile and on Thursday, February 9, 2023, he was spotted at Assin Nyankomase and was arrested subsequently. The prosecution further said investigations revealed that the convict had gone to the Central North Regional Commander, DCOP Teye Cudjoe, with the same mode of operation that he had information on purported drug syndicates and demanded money to assist in apprehending the suspects. The prosecution said the convict admitted that his action was to solicit money from unsuspecting people, including the complainant. The convict behaved abnormally in the witness box and while on remand in police custody, smeared his body with faecal matter and also drank flushed toilet water.
His peculiar behavior prompted Sergeant Osaah Boabeng, the prosecutor, to ask the court for permission to send him to a psychiatric hospital for a thorough medical examination. The court granted the request. According to the doctor’s report following the examination, the defendant was mentally sound and qualified to stand trial. To get out of jail because he cannot pay the fine and has no one to turn to, the felon claimed that his behavior was a hoax intended to fool the police and the judge into thinking he was crazy.
