<<Print>>

Bishop Samuel Vaglas Kanco�s appeal could not be heard by an Accra Fast Track High Court, following a submission by his lawyer that they had not been able to procure the necessary document for it. According to Bishop Kanco�s lawyer, Kissi Agyabeng, they were yet to obtain the record of proceedings from the Circuit Court where Bishop Kanco was sentenced. He thus pleaded with the court for a short adjournment. The trial judge, Justice Quist, adjourned the matter to June 10, 2011. Bishop Kanco has filed an application for bail at the High Court, pending the appeal against the 18-month prison sentence handed down to him by a Circuit Court. During the first hearing, Rexford Wiredu, the Principal State Attorney in the matter, observed that under Section 326 of the Criminal and other Offences Act, the motion filed by Bishop Kanco did not meet the requirement of a petition coming from the Circuit Court. The Principal State Attorney said Bishop Kanco had failed to attach the necessary documents, including a copy of the judgment of the trial court that was needed for the motion to be heard, adding that as a result the motion could not be moved. Mr. Agyabeng however disagreed with the Principal Sate Attorney. Justice Charles Quist ordered the registrar of the Circuit Court to transfer the judgment to the High Court for the motion to be moved. D.E.K. Dzaketsey, the Circuit Court judge, on May 5, 2011, sentenced Bishop Kanco to 18 months imprisonment after he was found guilty of defrauding Clova Sutherland, a British woman, of �120,000. However, the convict says the trial court erred in jailing him. He therefore wants to be released before he begins the process to fight his conviction. Bishop Kanco collected a cheque of �120,000 from Ms. Sutherland under the guise of praying over it but went ahead to cash the money without her consent, and then disappeared. The cheque was meant for Ms. Sutherland�s boyfriend, who the Bishop described as �evil.� While on trial, Bishop Kanco created the impression that the money was a gift given to him by Ms. Sutherland. The complainant, who was unemployed at that time, told the court that the pastor told her he had to pray over the cheque, which bore her boyfriend�s name, because if she gave it to him, he would use it as a point of contact to kill her. The general overseer, apart from the jail term, was ordered to pay the money.