Slave trader gets 5 years in jail

An Accra circuit tribunal on Wednesday sentenced a 27-year-old farmer to five years in prison for slave dealing after he tried to sell two teenage girls for 450 million cedis.

Emmanuel Tetteh had pleaded not guilty to slave dealing, the Ghana News Agency reported.

Police said they caught Tetteh in the act two years ago after receiving a tip from an electrician, who said he had been offered one-third of the sale price if he could find a buyer for Tetteh's slaves, who he claimed were his sisters.

When Tetteh showed up to collect the money, police arrested him.

Deputy police superintendent Elizabeth Alomatu testified that victims were school dropouts and minors working as "chop bar" - or local restaurant attendants - at Anomakojo, near Asamankese in the Eastern Region. - Sapa-DPA