Delta 13 case adjourned to September 5

13, who were charged with assaulting a public officer escaped lawful custody while standing trial

The case involving the 13 members of the Delta Force, a vigilante group within the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), who attacked the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Agyei, has been adjourned to September 5, 2017.

The prosecution prayed the KMA Circuit Court on Tuesday, August 8 to give the Attorney General’s Department some time to study the docket it submitted for advice.

The court presided by Mary Nsenkyire granted the plea.

Lawyer for the Delta Force suspects, Mathew Appiah told Class FM that adjournments are part of the court processes but they have been told that “the police have finished their investigations and forwarded the docket to the Attorney General, so progress is being made and it is now left with the Attorney General’s advice so hopefully at the next adjournment date the advice will come”.

The 13, who were charged with assaulting a public officer, conspiracy to commit crime, and rioting, escaped lawful custody while standing trial at the court.

They turned themselves in to the police and were later granted bail after their lawyers filed an application at the High Court.

It is recalled that the men stormed the Ashanti Regional Security Council on 24 March to drag the regional security coordinator out of his office. The group had said it would not allow Mr Agyei to work as he was not native to the region and did not partake in the campaign that brought the New Patriotic Party to power following the 2016 polls.

The 13 members, who were aided by eight of their colleagues to escape from custody after being remanded by the Kumasi Circuit Court, were fined 200 penalty units each (GHS2400) for escaping lawful custody and made to sign a bond of good behaviour for a period of six months or in default serve three years in prison.

The 13 are Kwadwo Fosu Bamba (aka Kwadwo Bamba), Awal Sadat Abubakar, Abubakar Sadiq Abuhammed, Jamil Issa, Hamza Mohammed, Salu Issahak, Akwasi Owusu, Kwabena Owusu, Kofi Kyei, Agya Boadi, Salu Yussif, Yussif Salu, and Kwaku Awotwe.