‘Adamant’ Akuapem Poloo didn’t heed our advice - Child Rights International reveals

Following the incarceration of Akuapem Poloo by an Accra Circuit Court, it has emerged that the complainant, Child Rights International, wanted to resolve the case which they petitioned the Director-General of the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) over using the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approach but the Actress was adamant.

According to Bright Appiah, the Executive Director of Child Right International, when Akuapem Poloo’s first lawyer left the case looking at the evidence against his client, a different lawyer was hired to pursue the matter but the lawyer did not want the matter to be resolved in court but rather use the ADR approach in resolving the issue so he contacted the organization who made the complaint to know if there were any hope for them.

He said, he told the lawyer that they [Child Right International] do not have any issue with it if they want out of court resolution of the matter.

He added that he told the lawyer that he should speak to his client [Akuapem Poloo] to “open an investment account in the name of the child, so that, by the time the child is 18-years-old, she the mother will hand over the accounts to the child. We agreed and the lawyer even stated that it is of the interest of the child so he does not even think that Akuapem Poloo will disagree.”

Bright Appiah told Kwame Nkrumah Tikese that, “the lawyer together with Akuapem Poloo, her manager and other friends visited his office and took them through how the investment will work. The manager said, it is very educative, so they will go ahead with the suggestion of opening the account.

“I told them that they should invest about GH¢50,000 for the child and they agreed. I explained that it is the commitment that we want so that we base on that and go and plead with the court. After, they indicated that, at that moment, they will not get the said amount, so I asked for a road map and they stated that they can use one year to pay for the GH¢50,000.

“I asked them to bring a commitment fee of GH¢10,000 together with the passport picture and particulars of the child so that we all go to the bank, together with the lawyer, we open the account for the child and they all agreed.”

Appiah further stated that at a point, Akuapem Poloo told him that she has been able to raise GH¢6,000 out of the commitment fee of GH¢10,000.

He said, all the celebrities going about making noise are the same people who could not help the lady when she needed the commitment fee to open an account for her child.

“I told her that I don’t want to have the money so she should go and give it to her lawyer so that at the appropriate time we all go to the bank together…after I have spoken to the lady, another lawyer called on that same day, this time, it was a lady, and she told me that she is now handling the Akuapem Poloo case so she will be speaking to me on behalf of the lady…

“I asked if they have been able to raise the GH¢10,000 but the new lawyer told me point blank that the lady cannot raise the said amount...all that we were doing is to safeguard the future of the child but the lawyer insisted that Akuapem Poloo can’t raise the commitment fee,” Bright Appiah narrated.

Bright Appiah added that Child Right International was ready to support Akuapem Poloo with an amount of GH¢10,000.

“We were just waiting for her to bring the GH¢6,000; to show some commitment…the new lawyer after a while called to tell me that she is backing off the case too…I didn’t hear anything until I was called to go and testify…”

Background

On June 30, 2020, Rosemond celebrated her son’s seventh birthday by sharing nude pictures of the pair on her Instagram page which went viral on social media.

The pictures attracted comments which accused her of undermining the dignity of her seven-year-old son, among other things.

Mr Bright K. Appiah, who is the Director of Child Rights International Ghana, petitioned the Director-General of CID, and the matter was referred to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU).

Rosemond, the prosecution said, was arrested, and in her caution statement, admitted posting the nude picture with her son but said she did so unintentionally.

The prosecution held that Rosemond deliberately posted the pictures on social media.

She was convicted by the Accra Circuit Court on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty in court.

The court subsequently ordered her to undergo a pregnancy test and deferred her sentencing to Friday, April 16, 2021.