PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Ghana: Jailing of gunman who confessed he wanted to kill President Mahama reported in Ghana
Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The jailing of a gunman who confessed he wanted to kill President John Dramani Mahama and yet another strike by doctors were some of the major stories played up by the media in Ghana this week
A 36-year-old unemployed man, who was last Sunday arrested in the church attended by President Mahama with a loaded pistol, was jailed for 10 years after he confessed to plotting to kill the president. Luckily, president and his family members were not at church.
“I wanted to kill president,” was the headline of the state-owned Graphic after Charles Antwi was sentenced by the judge, Francis Obiri.
The Graphic reported that the convict admitted he wanted to kill the President because he was fed up with the frequent power outages and the poor management of the economy.
According to him, he had, prior to the demise of Prof. John Evans Mills in July 2012, wanted to be President, but was unlucky when President Mahama was rather sworn in as Head of State.
The story said the convict, who spoke of how he had visited countries such as France, Morocco and Libya, indicated that he felt cheated by President Mahama following the death of Prof. Mills because he believed he (Antwi) should have been the President.
He said that the day he was arrested was the fourth time he had gone to the church to launch his attack.
“The speed with which the convict confessed to his crime prompted the judge to inquire from the investigator if he (Antwi) was mentally stable,” the Graphic reported.
It added: “But the trial judge had a change of mind immediately the convict confessed to visiting the President’s church four times in his bid to kill him.”
The state-owned Ghanaian Times also has the headline, “I wanted to kill President Mahama.”
The Times quoted the convict as saying, “I would have killed President John Mahama if he had gone for church service. He has brought so much hardship onto Ghanaians. And I need to rescue them. I have been to the church on four occasions. The first time I went to the church, the President was there. However, the President never showed up on three occasions when I was fully armed.”
Meanwhile, an Accra-based radio station, Joy FM, reported on its website that judge Francis Obiri had come under severe criticism for sentencing Antwi to 10 years' imprisonment after the suspect confessed to intending to assassinate the president.
The judge, justifying his maximum sentence, said the attempt was pre-meditated after the man confessed to visiting Ringway branch of the Assemblies of God church in Accra where the first family worshiped.
It quoted a lawyer, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, as describing the ruling as "despicable" and "unheard of".
Without a lawyer, the trial lasted for an hour on Tuesday morning although the prosecution had come to court seeking for more time to complete its investigations.
Prof. Asare said the Constitution required that both sides be given adequate time to prepare.
Although Antwi confessed to an attempt to assassinate the President, Prof. Asare said his confession was “completely irrelevant” to the official charge of unlawful possession of firearms.
Another lawyer, Mathias Yakah, has also questioned the ruling.
The radio station also said a brother of the convict had indicated that the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) had information that the convict had previously been treated for mental illness.
Prior to his sentence, the prosecution had told the presiding judge that Antwi was mentally sound, but his brother, Kwame Opoku, with whom he lived before the incident, said he led officials of the BNI to a government hospital where the convict had previously sought treatment for mental illness.
“Doctors’ strike leaves patients to their fate,” was the headline of the Times on Friday on the strike by doctors in government hospitals which started on Thursday after negotiations with the government on conditions of service broke down.
The story said doctors at some major hospitals in the country on Thursday left patients to their fate as they embarked on a strike to press home their demands for comprehensive conditions of service.
It said while doctors in government hospitals in some regions were still working because the official directive from the Ghana Medical Association had not yet got to them, other regions had started.
They are refusing to attend to out-patients and warn that next week they would not attend to emergency cases.
Among the doctors’ demands are free medical care for their members and a hike in allowances.
-0- PANA MA/VAO 1Aug2015
A 36-year-old unemployed man, who was last Sunday arrested in the church attended by President Mahama with a loaded pistol, was jailed for 10 years after he confessed to plotting to kill the president. Luckily, president and his family members were not at church.
“I wanted to kill president,” was the headline of the state-owned Graphic after Charles Antwi was sentenced by the judge, Francis Obiri.
The Graphic reported that the convict admitted he wanted to kill the President because he was fed up with the frequent power outages and the poor management of the economy.
According to him, he had, prior to the demise of Prof. John Evans Mills in July 2012, wanted to be President, but was unlucky when President Mahama was rather sworn in as Head of State.
The story said the convict, who spoke of how he had visited countries such as France, Morocco and Libya, indicated that he felt cheated by President Mahama following the death of Prof. Mills because he believed he (Antwi) should have been the President.
He said that the day he was arrested was the fourth time he had gone to the church to launch his attack.
“The speed with which the convict confessed to his crime prompted the judge to inquire from the investigator if he (Antwi) was mentally stable,” the Graphic reported.
It added: “But the trial judge had a change of mind immediately the convict confessed to visiting the President’s church four times in his bid to kill him.”
The state-owned Ghanaian Times also has the headline, “I wanted to kill President Mahama.”
The Times quoted the convict as saying, “I would have killed President John Mahama if he had gone for church service. He has brought so much hardship onto Ghanaians. And I need to rescue them. I have been to the church on four occasions. The first time I went to the church, the President was there. However, the President never showed up on three occasions when I was fully armed.”
Meanwhile, an Accra-based radio station, Joy FM, reported on its website that judge Francis Obiri had come under severe criticism for sentencing Antwi to 10 years' imprisonment after the suspect confessed to intending to assassinate the president.
The judge, justifying his maximum sentence, said the attempt was pre-meditated after the man confessed to visiting Ringway branch of the Assemblies of God church in Accra where the first family worshiped.
It quoted a lawyer, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, as describing the ruling as "despicable" and "unheard of".
Without a lawyer, the trial lasted for an hour on Tuesday morning although the prosecution had come to court seeking for more time to complete its investigations.
Prof. Asare said the Constitution required that both sides be given adequate time to prepare.
Although Antwi confessed to an attempt to assassinate the President, Prof. Asare said his confession was “completely irrelevant” to the official charge of unlawful possession of firearms.
Another lawyer, Mathias Yakah, has also questioned the ruling.
The radio station also said a brother of the convict had indicated that the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) had information that the convict had previously been treated for mental illness.
Prior to his sentence, the prosecution had told the presiding judge that Antwi was mentally sound, but his brother, Kwame Opoku, with whom he lived before the incident, said he led officials of the BNI to a government hospital where the convict had previously sought treatment for mental illness.
“Doctors’ strike leaves patients to their fate,” was the headline of the Times on Friday on the strike by doctors in government hospitals which started on Thursday after negotiations with the government on conditions of service broke down.
The story said doctors at some major hospitals in the country on Thursday left patients to their fate as they embarked on a strike to press home their demands for comprehensive conditions of service.
It said while doctors in government hospitals in some regions were still working because the official directive from the Ghana Medical Association had not yet got to them, other regions had started.
They are refusing to attend to out-patients and warn that next week they would not attend to emergency cases.
Among the doctors’ demands are free medical care for their members and a hike in allowances.
-0- PANA MA/VAO 1Aug2015
