The Accra High Court, trying nine individuals for High Treason, has sentenced six persons, including three soldiers, to death by hanging for plotting to overthrow the incumbent government.
The convicted are Donya Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Johannes Zikpi, Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Ali Solomon, Corporal Sylvester Akankpewon, and Warrant Officer Class Two (WOII) Esther Saan Dekuwine.
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr. Benjamin Agordzo, along with Colonel Samuel Kojo Gameli and Corporal Seidu Abubakar, the alleged accomplices, were found not guilty after the trial and were thus acquitted and discharged.
The three-member Court, composed of Justices of the Court of Appeal Hafisata Amaleboba and Stephen Oppong, and presided over by Mrs. Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, stated that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt their involvement in the attempted coup.
Both ACP Agordzo and Colonel Gameli faced charges of abetment of crime, specifically high treason, while Corporal Seidu Abubakar was charged with conspiracy to commit High Treason, all of which they denied.
The Court found that ACP Dr. Agordzo was not proven to be part of TAG’s executive WhatsApp platform, and the speech alleged to have been given to the late Dr. Mac-Palm (the brain behind the plan who died during the trial) was not authored by him, nor did its content depict violence.
The GHC2,000.00 given to the late Dr. Mac-Palm was for TAG’s medical outreach and not to fund a government overthrow plot. The terms "big bang" and "Arab Spring," mentioned by Dr. Agordzo to the late Mac-Palm, were taken out of context; the Court found that they referred to starting something with enthusiasm, not overthrowing the government.
In Colonel Gameli's case, the Court was informed that he confessed knowledge of the late Mac-Palm’s activities, which was recorded on audio and in the diary of action of the Police, but these were not presented in Court.
In a nearly four-hour judgment delivery, the Court found no evidence of Colonel Gameli's confession to abet the crime.
However, the six convicted individuals were found culpable and sentenced to death by hanging for high treason.
The Court established that Debrah was tasked by the late Dr. Mac-Palm to recruit others for the attempted overthrow. He held meetings with his accomplices to discuss acquiring weapons, tested locally made weapons crafted by Kafui, attempted to recruit individuals at GHC50,000.00 each for their participation, and supplied them with cellular phones for communication.
He was also identified in videos captured by Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, the prosecution’s star witness.
In one video, he was seen and heard asking how the improvised explosive devices, described by the late Dr. Mac-Palm as bombs and made by Kafui, would be detonated on the day key government officials would be captured at a function.
The Court stated that there was no need for a non-governmental organization such as Take Action Ghana (TAG) to acquire arms, recruit 20 soldiers, set up roadblocks, or sketch key public installations just to help deprived communities, as Debrah claimed they were for philanthropic work. His defense was deemed an afterthought, and he was found to have conspired with the late Mac-Palm and others to attempt the offense.
In Zikpi’s case, although the prosecution could not prove that he was employed to secure communication gadgets to jam radio and telecommunication networks should the plot succeed, he was convicted based on his own confession statement.
The Court found Esther guilty on the grounds that she did not deny ever attending a meeting to plot the attempted overthrow. She did not deny her executive position in TAG, asked for unpaid allowances for "the boys," meaning the recruited soldiers, and was aware of the plot, hence she facilitated it by recruiting some soldiers.
The prosecution proved conspiracy charges against Esther, and she was acquitted of high treason, said the court.
The Court found LAC Ali guilty on a conspiracy charge but not guilty of High Treason, as he attended meetings and actively participated, as evidenced in the videos produced in court by the prosecution.
Sylvester Akankpewon attended meetings, contributed to discussions on blocking roads on the day of the coup, inquired about allowances, and asked how many people were taking part, thus the Court found that he agreed to act with the other participants.
Akankpewon was convicted on the conspiracy charge but acquitted of high treason.
There was a heavy security presence as the convicts were swiftly taken away to await their punishment.
The Attorney General’s Detail, led by Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame and including Mrs. Yvonne Attakorah Obuobisa, Director of Public Prosecutions, and Mr. Alfred Tuah, deputy attorney general, was present.
The Court noted that Mr. Victor Kwadjoga Adawudu failed to file his written submission when the court ordered.
Late Dr. Mac-Palm, Donya Kafui, and Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, the star witness, who planned among the group to capture their activities towards achieving the coup plot, were arrested in 2019 when testing the locally made guns made by Kafui upon a tip-off.
This led to the arrest of the others later, and they were committed by the Kaneshie District Court to stand trial at the High Court since the District Court does not have jurisdiction.
The prosecution stated that improvised explosive devices, locally made guns, sketch maps of places to attack, WhatsApp conversations about the plot, among other evidence, were retrieved from them.
After Independence, when the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first Prime Minister of Ghana, was overthrown in 1966, this is the first treason trial in the country.
The 1992 Constitution condemns attempts to overthrow the government; for this reason, such actions are treasonable and punishable by law by hanging to death.
This ruling serves to deter others from similar acts, but the death penalty has not been carried out since the inception of the 1992 Constitution.