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Three jailed 60 years for car robbery
An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced three persons to 20 years imprisonment each for robbing a taxi driver of his vehicle at Airport Residential Area, Accra.
The Convicts were said to have held Eric Appiah’s (the complainant) neck and assaulted him mercilessly until he fell unconscious, tied him up with a robe and they bolted with the taxi.
Yaw Asamoah, a 43-year-old labourer, Yaw Appiah, a 27-year-old phone repairer, and John Chinedu, were found guilty on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime namely robbery and robbery.
The Court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah sentenced the three accused persons to 15 years imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to commit crime namely robbery.
On the charge of robbery, the accused are to serve 20 years each. Sentences will however run concurrently.
Charles Oduro, aka Ayensu, a building contractor who was in the dock with the convicts, was however acquitted and discharged.
Prosecuting Police Chief Inspector Emmanuel Haligah said the complainants were Policemen stationed at the Regional Police headquarters, Accra.
Accused persons reside at Shaishie and Madina in Accra respectively.
Police Chief Inspector Haligah said on January 30, last year, the Accra Regional CID operation team received information that the accused persons had robbed a taxi driver of his Toyota Vitz car with registration number GW 9145-19 and were going to sell same to someone at Dansoman.
Prosecution said the Police team trailed the said car and intercepted it at Dansoman roundabout, heading towards the Carl Reindolf Park.
According to prosecution, Asamoah, Appiah, Chinedu and one other identified later as Shortman, tried to escape on seeing the Police; got out of the car and took to their heels.
Prosecution said the convicts were arrested by the Police and Shortman who was then driving the stolen car, was shot in an attempt to arrest him.
Chief Haligah said Shortman were rushed to the Police Hospital for treatment but he was later pronounced dead.
During interrogation, prosecution said the three convicts mentioned one Ayensu and Danso as those who gave them the vehicle at Teshie on January, 30, last year at about 1:00am to be given to a buyer at Dansoman.
The prosecutor said the three convicts failed to assist the Police to arrest one Ayensu and Danso.
Prosecution said investigation caution statements were taken from them.
However, prosecution said on February 3, last year, Ayensu was arrested and he denied having handed over the car to the three convicts.
Prosecution said a police wireless message was sent to all stations about the retrieval of the Toyota Vitz with registration number GW 9145- 19.
On February 8, last year, Eric Appiah a taxi driver together with an investigator from Airport Police came to the Regional CID, Accra and Eric Appiah identified the vehicle as his.
Prosecution said investigations revealed that the three convicts and one Shortman, now deceased on January 29, last year at about 11:30 pm hired the taxi driver to take them to the Old Chinese Embassy located at Airport Residential Area.
The Prosecutor said on reaching a spot near the Old Chinese Embassy, the convicts asked the driver to stop.
Accused alighted and Shortman pretended to be paying Eric Appiah the fare, but suddenly one of the convicts held Eric Appiah’s neck and assaulted him mercilessly until he fell unconscious, tied him up with a robe and bolted with the taxi. -GNA
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
