Court orders BNI to produce DSP Mawuenyegah

The Human Rights Division of the Fast Track High Court Monday ordered the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to produce Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mrs. Gifty Mawuenyegah Tehoda, who is at the centre of the cocaine-turn-sodium carbonate saga at its sitting today.

The court's order followed the failure of BNI officials to send the accused person to court as required by law.

Counsel for Mrs. Tehoda, Mr E. A. Vordoagu, informed the court about the frustrations the defence team encountered anytime they visited their client at the BNI cells.

According to him, although BNI officials had been served with hearing notices, they refused to bring Mrs. Tehoda to court and made it impossible for the defence team to have access to her.

Mrs Tehoda, the Deputy Head of the Commercial Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, has applied for bail at the Human Rights Court, presided over by Mr Justice Kofi Essel-Mensah.

She has been remanded by the Accra Circuit Court on one count of abetment of stealing of cocaine but her lawyers applied for bail on her behalf at the Human Rights Court.

At the Human Rights Court's sitting in Accra yesterday, a Chief State Attorney, Mr Rexford Wiredu, prayed the court to adjourn the case to Wednesday because he had gone out of the jurisdiction and on his return he had been informed that his outfit had been served with a copy of Mrs. Tehoda's bail application last Friday.

Mr Vordoagu opposed Mr Wiredu's plea and said the Attorney-General's office had sufficient notice and so the court should ignore the plea.

Responding to Mr Vordoagu's submission, Mr Wiredu argued that the defence team's bail application was badly written, thereby causing the court to dismiss it on Wednesday, January 25, 2012.

The court, after listening to both parties, ordered the BNI to produce Mrs. Tehoda today.

Mrs. Tehoda had, on January 17, 2012, pleaded not guilty to one count of abetment of stealing of cocaine and was remanded by the Circuit court to reappear on February 6, 2012.