Court of Appeal Court Judge and Chairman of the Remand Review Taskforce, Justice C. k Honyenugah, has vowed to take action against police personnel, who allegedly assisted a remand prisoner at the Ankaful Prison, in Central Region, to abscond.
According to the judge he suspected that the police wanted to assist the prisoner to dodge court sitting and get him released.
Justice Honyenugah told The Ghanaian Times that his outfit would take up the matter to the Police Legal Department and get to the bottom of it, saying “I suspect foul play, we will take it up, I think it is a ploy to dodge sitting and get the prisoner released.”
He said a remand inmate at the Ankaful Prison filed a motion for bail to allow his case to be heard at the Justice For All Programme (JFAP) sitting.
However, on the day of the sitting, the inmate, Abeiku Moro, failed to show up, and when Justice Honyenugah inquired, he was told by the prison officers that the police had come for him (Moro), a story which was corroborated by counsel for the accused and the Assistance State Attorney.
Justice Honyenugah indicated that all the necessary processes would be followed to establish the whereabouts of the remand prisoner, and to find put the police personnel involved.
He said he encountered similar situation at Akuse Prison sometime ago, where six remand prisoners were taken away by the police in the morning of the JFAP sitting.
Justice Honyenugah expressed his appreciation to the immediate past Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood, for initiating the Justice For All Programme, to ease congestion at prisons throughout the country.
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