The Ghana Prisons Service has announced that it has begun an internal investigation into the allegations that an inmate serving a sentence at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison played a role in the murder of the Abamba Queen Mother, Nana Serwaa Asaama Agyankomaa I, also known as Nana Serwaa Gyan Kuma I.

In a statement issued by its Public Affairs Department on Saturday, May 30, 2026, the Prisons Service expressed condolences to the chiefs and people of the Abamba Traditional Area in Atebubu over the killing of the queen mother.

The statement and claims of investigation are in response to The Herald’s Friday publication about the silence of the Service, led by its Director-General, Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, regarding the convicted prisoner Issahaku Alhassan, alias “Sule Yangari”, who, according to the police, is a central figure in the murder at Atebubu.

The Herald has listened to audio recordings, believed to be voice notes full of threats, allegedly sent by the 66-year-old from prison using a mobile phone to one of the accused persons in the case, the Chief of Akokoa and Nifahene of the Atebubu Traditional Area, Nana Owusu Sahkofi, also known as Charles Kofi Owusu, ahead of the murder.

The Prison Service, in a statement, said preliminary findings released by the Ghana Police Service had implicated an inmate, Ishaku Alhassan, also known as Sule Yagani, in the crime.

According to the statement, the prisoner is alleged to have acted as an intermediary in facilitating the murder plot while serving his sentence at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison.

“The Prisons Administration views these allegations with the utmost gravity,” the statement said.

The Service announced that it had constituted a high-powered team to investigate the matter and make recommendations. The statement did not mention members of the said team.

It added that an active collaboration with the Ghana Police Service was underway to ensure a thorough investigation.

Management assured the public that any individual found culpable, regardless of status, would face the full force of the law.

The statement also clarified that when it comes to prison communication arrangements, inmates are permitted to make heavily supervised voice calls only through official institutional telephone booths and are allowed scheduled visits from family members, friends, and legal counsel.

However, it stressed that the possession and use of personal mobile phones remain strictly prohibited in all correctional facilities.

“This prohibition strictly applies to inmates, as well as on-duty correctional officers,” the statement said.

The Ghana Prisons Service said it maintains strict contraband control measures across its facilities, including physical and electronic searches at prison entry points, intelligence-led searches of prison cells and workshops, and periodic random body searches of inmates and staff.

The Queen Mother, who operated Ohemaa’s Kitchen in Atebubu, was returning home from work with one of her employees when two armed men ambushed and shot her several times shortly after she stepped out of her vehicle at her residence.

Investigators recovered spent 9mm cartridges from the scene, while a post-mortem examination confirmed she died from severe gunshot wounds to the chest.

During interrogation, one of the suspects, Abdul-Razak Ibrahim Langa, alias Zack, allegedly confessed knowledge of the murder, claiming he had been “haunted” by the Queen Mother’s ghost and felt compelled to reveal details of the crime.

According to police, Abdul-Razak identified Nana Yaw Bediako as the alleged gunman.

Bediako reportedly admitted to shooting the Queen Mother six times after he was contracted by Nana Owusu Sahkofi II, privately known as Charles Kofi Owusu, Chief of Akokoa, to carry out the killing for GH¢50,000.

Nana Yaw Bediako has since died mysteriously in Police custody, raising fear among some of the suspects, especially Abdul-Razak Ibrahim Langa, alias Zack, that he could also die. He expressed his fear in an open court in Techiman when he and others were arraigned

Yangari, who has reportedly served time at Ankaful Prison and Sunyani Central Prison, was alleged to have maintained active communication and operational influence outside prison despite being incarcerated.

In one of the recordings, a voice believed to be that of Yangari referred to the long-standing tensions between the Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, while vowing that certain lands in the Amantin area would not fall under the Dormaa Stool.

Residents within the Amantin community claim Yangari’s continued influence outside prison had long been widely known locally. His connection to some influential traditional leaders is widely known, too.

According to several residents, Yangari allegedly maintained close operational links with individuals outside prison and remained involved in local disputes even while serving his sentence at the Sunyani Central Prison. He boasted about forwarding these voice notes to people, even while in prison.

The murder gained national attention after the Ghana Police Service acknowledged during a press conference addressed by Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno and Bono East Regional Police Commander Osei Shaibu that Yangari had allegedly coordinated the murder from prison using his mobile phone.

For many residents, the police admission by the police confirmed long-standing suspicions of weaknesses in Ghana’s prison service, with some convicted criminals continuing to run networks from behind bars despite officially serving prison sentences.

Community members in the Atebubu-Amantin are also alleging that before his incarceration, Yangari had repeatedly been arrested in connection with robbery cases and other criminal activities within the area.

According to residents, one recurring pattern associated with Yangari was his alleged tendency to mention prominent individuals as accomplices whenever he was arrested. Some residents claimed that individuals previously named by Yangari in criminal investigations were detained for periods before police investigations failed to substantiate the claims against them.

This background, residents say, partly explains growing scepticism within Amantin regarding claims linking the Chief of Akokoa and Nifahene of the Atebubu Traditional Area, Nana Owusu Sahkofi, also known as Charles Kofi Owusu, to the murder of the queen mother.

Several residents argued that claims the Akokoa chief sponsored the killing of his own cousin, the queen mother, fit what they describe as an established pattern in which Yangari allegedly implicates individuals connected to disputes in which he has personal interests.

In another audio recording, sent by Yangari from prison to Nana Owusu Sahkofi ahead of their arrest.

Yangari admitted in the voice notes that although he knew the Akokoa chief personally, the chief did not know him.

The recordings also contain requests by Yangari for Nana Owusu Sahkofi’s support in disputes over lands connected to cassava starch processing and cassava feedstock cultivation projects linked to NPP’s presidential hopeful, Kennedy Agyapong and another businessman identified as Oppong Bio.

Yangari also admitted that he and his associates were operating on approximately 30 acres of disputed land while he remained in prison.

Supporters of the Akokoa chief argue that the voice recordings undermine the police narrative that the chief contracted Yangari to murder the queen mother.

Instead, they claim the recordings portray Yangari as someone seeking legitimacy, support and influence from traditional authorities in the area.

The revelations have also reignited concerns about the effectiveness of Ghana’s prison supervision systems.

Many residents say the police’s admission that Yangari operated external activities from prison validates years of speculation that criminal networks continue to function from inside some correctional facilities.

Observers say the issue now extends beyond the murder investigation itself and raises broader national security concerns regarding prison monitoring and control mechanisms.

Questions are now being raised over how a convicted prisoner maintained access to mobile phones, communication channels and operational influence outside prison for an extended period without detection or intervention.

Critics argue that if a convict prisoner could allegedly coordinate criminal activities and maintain influence from prison, including allegedly directing individuals from Kasoa in the Central Region, it exposes serious weaknesses within the correctional system.

Attention has also turned to the silence of the Ghana Prisons Service, led by Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, following the police disclosure. Many residents say they expected prison authorities to immediately announce an internal investigation into how a prisoner allegedly continued external operations while incarcerated.

The murder case itself took another dramatic turn on last Monday when fresh controversy emerged during court proceedings involving the accused persons.

According to accounts from the courtroom, the presiding judge questioned police over the death of Nana Yaw Bediako, one of the suspects linked to the investigation, whom the IGP had earlier publicly identified during a press conference in Atebubu as the alleged gunman who shot the queen mother.

Police informed the court that Nana Yaw Bediako died “in the process of arrest”. The explanation immediately generated concern among some of the accused persons and observers in court. The other accused questioned how the suspect died about two days after the IGP paraded them following the arrest and transfer from Atebubu to Techiman. They claimed he had not shown any signs of illness before his alleged death.

Nana Yaw Bediako is widely believed to have been the individual whose alleged statements formed the basis for implicating the Akokoa chief in the alleged murder conspiracy. His alleged death has since intensified public suspicion and triggered calls for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death while in police custody or transit.

Further tension reportedly arose in court when Abdul Razak Ibrahim Langa openly expressed fears about his own safety while in police custody. According to persons present during proceedings, Langa told the court that he did not trust the police because his statements were allegedly not being accurately represented by investigators.

He appealed directly to the judge to formally record his testimony, expressing fears that he could also die while in custody. Langa is also said to have informed the court that Nana Yaw Bediako appeared healthy before they departed Atebubu in separate police vehicles.

Despite concerns raised during proceedings, the court remanded him and the others in custody for two weeks.

The Akokoa chief and others have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder over the killing of Nana Agyankoma I at Atebubu in the Bono East Region.

The accused persons are Sule Yangari, a convict prisoner who had been moved to the Sunyani Central Prison to process his appeal, and Abdul Razak Ibrahim Langa, a 32-year-old trader from Agona Swedru.

According to court documents, the accused persons, together with the late Nana Yaw Bediako, allegedly conspired to murder the queen mother on February 25, 2026. The prosecution alleged that the accused persons acted with a common purpose to commit murder contrary to Sections 23(1) and 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

The developments have heightened anxiety among relatives and supporters of the 56-year-old businessman and Chief of Akokoa, particularly following allegations that CCTV systems were removed from the chief’s Kumasi residence during his arrest, where a plain-clothed police officer was accused of acting unprofessionally during his arrest.

Critics of the police investigation have also questioned whether some suspects were kept in custody for periods exceeding constitutional limits before being presented before the court.

Additional controversy also emerged over prosecution claims that Nana Owusu Sahkofi allegedly attempted to offer GH¢200,000 to police officers during his arrest, including an alleged initial payment of GH¢100,000.

The allegation has since been strongly denied by family supporters and relatives of the chief, who claim the money was voluntarily surrendered after police allegedly demanded that he produce all cash available in his house. They accused the police officers who effected the arrest of unprofessional conduct.

They were in plainclothes, wore masks hiding their faces, and destroyed property.

Family members who were in the house around 2 am on the day of his arrest have also accused police officers of destroying CCTV systems at his residence to conceal what occurred during the said arrest. They demanded a transparent and credible criminal investigation from the state institutions.

But for a phone call to a senior officer by Nana Owusu Sahkofi, who called the marauding officers to order, his family alleged that he would have been killed in the operation.