There was serious disagreement at the Circuit Court 4, in Accra on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, as lawyers clashed over a bail application for the
There was serious disagreement at the Circuit Court 4, in Accra on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, as lawyers clashed over a bail application for the 12 persons standing trial over the recent disturbances at Bawku in the Upper East Region.
The accused persons, according to the Prosecution, had violated a curfew in Bawku, and a restraining order, to perform the funeral rites of a chief who died almost 40 years ago, and at the same time to enskin a new chief for an area that already has a chief.
Leading the prosecution, Vivian Osei Tutu of the Attorney General’s department said there will be chaos and anarchy in Bawku if the 12 accused persons are granted bail.
She said that the security situation in Bawku was already volatile, and that granting the 12 accused persons bail would only heighten the already precarious situation.
Lawyer for the accused persons, Martin Kpebu, however disagreed with the facts as asserted by the Prosecution.
He described the accused persons as responsible and respectable people, some sub-chiefs with hundreds of thousands of subjects under them.
According to Mr. Kpebu, the accused persons have not enskinned a new chief, neither did they cause any chaos or anarchy in Bawku.
Visibly disappointed at the Prosecution’s description of the security situation, Mr. Kpebu said the assertion should be taken lightly.
Speaking to journalists after the hearing, lawyer for the accused persons, Martin Kpebu, described the nine-day detention of his clients as an abuse.
“Naturally, we are extremely disappointed, and that is expected. The state has kept them for eight days and refused to bring them to court until we pushed for the court to make an order for them to be brought. We expected that at least, as for bail, they should be admitted to bail. But, since that hasn’t happened, we will regroup and look at the way forward.”
The 12 suspects were arrested following a renewed chieftaincy clash in Bawku last Monday, January 3, 2022, which led to the loss of lives and the destruction of property.
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