New Prosecutor For Amina Yutong

A NEW STATE Attorney has been assigned to take over the case of Amina Mohammed, the 24-year-old lady who captured national attention following an allegation she made on Adom FM, a Tema-based radio station, that there was a mass rape of women on a Bawku-bound bus during a robbery attack at Kubiase near Ejisu in the Ashanti region.

Dominic Bakoma is to replace Paul Asibi Abariga, a former state attorney who has since resigned from the Attorney-General’s department and is now practicing as a private lawyer.

The case was called at an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Patience Mills-Tetteh after about a six-month break, but there was no hearing because Mr. Bakoma indicated to the court that he had not yet received a copy of the proceedings.

Mr. Bakoma, who said he had been informed that the proceedings would soon be ready, indicated that he would be ready for the case on the next adjourned date.

The judge also noted that Amina’s lawyer, Andy Appiah Kubi, through a letter, informed the court that he had travelled and would therefore need an adjournment.

Mrs. Mills-Tetteh has therefore adjourned the matter to April 11, 2012.

On the next adjourned date, the state attorney would probably respond to a motion by Mr. Appiah-Kubi seeking leave of the court to recall one Michael Ofosu Frimpong, a prosecution witness in the case.

Ofosu Frimpong is to substantiate an allegation he made in the media that he was coached by the Attorney General’s Department to frame up some New Patriotic Party (NPP) chieftains as having attempted to bribe him over the Amina case.

Andy Appiah Kubi, when he moved the motion, said Ofosu Frimpong, the fourth prosecution witness, would have to come and give a vivid account of the said interaction he had with the Attorney-General (AG) for the court to ascertain whether the evidence he gave to the court was reliable.

It would be recalled that Ofosu Frimpong, a trader, made allegations in open court that some members of the NPP attempted to bribe him over the Amina case.

The young man, who had earlier spoken on Adom FM in Tema and Great FM in Accra, claiming he was on the Yutong bus when the mass rape incident occurred, surprisingly added that he was persuaded by Adom FM to add some information to Amina’s claim to make the information credible.

The witness claimed that renowned criminologist, Professor Ken Attafuah and Andy Appiah-Kubi, both lawyers of Amina, the lady at the centre of the controversy, took him to the NPP headquarters at Asylum Down, Accra, where he met three party bigwigs such as Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Kennedy Agyapong and Yaw Osafo Marfo and in a meeting, after showing him some money, they promised him GH¢90,000 if he helped clear Amina and Adom FM.

Mr. Appiah Kubi recalled that the witness gave this evidence on March 18, 2011 and was cross-examined, after which he was discharged.

However, subsequent to this, Ofosu Frimpong granted an interview to the media, alleging that he was motivated and coached by the AG to lead such an evidence.

Counsel observed that such evidence, as allegedly promoted through the witness by the AG, is already in evidence as part of the proceedings in this court.

The statement given to the media, counsel noted, “is relevant for the purpose of ascertaining the competence and credibility of the witness and the value of the witness evidence in court. It is for this reason that my lord we find it appropriate and imperative to seek leave to apply to recall the witness,” he indicated.

Amina is standing trial for causing fear and panic as well as deceit of public officer. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently on a GH¢5,000 bail with a surety.