"My Lord Have You Seen Wee Before" - Convict Asks Judge

Drama unfolded at an Accra Circuit Court when Obarima Odei Ampadu, a wee peddler was sentenced to five years imprisonment for possessing 22 wraps and three slabs of Indian hemp. Ampadu, who had been in the drug trade for the past ten years, thanked the trial judge Mr Francis Obiri for sentencing him; and wondered if he (the judge) had seen Indian hemp before. According to Ampadu, Indian hemp did not make people mad and the leaves had so many importance. He intimated that he had been smoking the leaves for the past years and had used the proceeds of his drug trade to cater for his family. Ampadu, charged with possession of narcotic drugs pleaded guilty. The court therefore convicted him on his own plea. Prosecuting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) A. Atibillah said the complainants are policemen from the Greater Accra Regional Police Headquarters. Ampadu resides at Old Barrier, near Weija in Accra. On January 31, this year, at about 1500 hours, while the policemen were on their daily patrol duties at Weija, on reaching Old Barrier where Ampadu stays, they spotted him wrapping some leaves suspected to be Indian hemp. Prosecution said the policemen searched Ampadu�s room and found 22 wraps and three slabs. Ampadu was therefore escorted to the Police Station and during interrogation, he told them that he had been in the drugs business for the past ten years, and that he earned his living from it.