Ex Police Capo Gets Freedom At Last After 10 Years On Remand

A former policeman who has been remanded in prison custody since 2008 awaiting trial for allegedly killing a child, has been released through the intervention of Justice for All Programme

The 67 year-old man was pronounced free at the Justice for All Programme's Prison Court Sitting at the Kpando local prison.

Mr Anthony Darko, who was once a police officer, was discharged from the Ghana Police Service due to mental instability, was arrested in 2008.

According to him, out of anger, he threw a kitchen knife at some children who had provoked him while he was cooking resulting in the injury and subsequent death of one of them.

According to the investigator in charge of the case, Mr. Darko had had serious health complications during his time spent in remand.

He explained that there were times when he had to take the accused to the hospital and pay to get him medical care.

During the court sitting, it was established by the assistant State Attorney that he, the accused was granted bail with conditions as GH¢20, 000.00 with two sureties.

Mr Justice Clemence Honyenuga, Chairman, Justice For All programme, in an interview, expressed displeasure in the manner in which the case of Mr. Darko was handled.

Stating that but for the state -driven intervention, the accused would have remained lost within the system.

He lauded the launch of the Case Tracking System (CTS) by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, which in his estimation, would address such cases by tracking cases with a click of a button.

He also reiterated that the rights of every citizen were to be upheld regardless of social standing.

Mr Nicholas Kwabena Darko, the Jasikan District Director of Education, cousin of Mr Darko, thanked the Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, for out of urgency, directing Mr Honyenuga to travel from Accra to Kpando and adjudicate the case.

He was also grateful to Perfector of Sentiment (POS), a human rights advocacy group, for providing legal assistance to Mr. Darko.

The Executive Director of POS foundation, partners of the Justice for All Programme, stressed that it was unfair to put persons on remand for ten years without trial.

He stated that it was an abuse of the rights of persons and contravened the provision of Article 14(4) of the Constitution of Ghana.

The Justice for All Programme is a state-driven intervention partnered by the POS foundation to help decongest prisons in Ghana particularly through the adjudication of remand prisoner cases.

It had helped reduce the remand population of prisons in Ghana from 33 per cent in 2007 to 12.7 per cent as at December 2017.