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November 27, 1967
COURT OF APPEAL
CORAM
JUDGMENT OF AZU CRABBE J.A.
Azu Crabbe J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. This is an appeal from a conviction before Djabanor J. sitting with a jury at the criminal session holden at Sekondi on 20 July 1966. The appellant was charged with the murder of Kojo Duku on 21 January 1966 at Aboabo in the Western Region.
The brief facts of the case are that on Friday, 21 January 1966, the deceased left his village Ohiayeanisa for Aboabo at about 11. a. m. to see the appellant for accounts in respect of a cocoa farm. At Aboabo the deceased took the appellant to the house of the odikro of the village, and there he told the appellant that he had come to collect his share of the money from the proceeds of the farm. According to the odikro, the appellant said that the deceased was worrying him too much to pay this money and that he was not going to pay. A quarrel ensued, and as it was getting heated the odikro advised the deceased to leave. That was the last time anyone saw the deceased. Later when the relatives of the deceased realised that the deceased had not returned home from Aboabo they became alarmed. Two of them (the second and fifth prosecution witnesses) went to the odikro and reported to him that the deceased had not returned home. After all inquiries about the deceased had proved fruitless, the odikro caused a gong-gong to be beaten and he subsequently organised a search party. All the people in the village responded to the call except the appellant. The odikro noticed the appellant's absence and therefore sent someone for him. When the appellant was brought before him he rebuked him and asked him to give his reasons for not showing any interest in the search for the deceased who had come to Aboabo with the sole purpose of demanding money from him. This rebuke took place in the presence of the people who had been summoned for the search party. In reply to the odikro, the appellant is alleged to have said, "Doku is dead some time now — why am I being expected to go in search of him?" The odikro therefore told the appellant that he knew something about the death of the deceased and he caused the arrest of the appellant. The deceased could not be traced that day. The search continued the next day, and the dead body of the deceased was eventually found. The impression formed by the people who were searching was that the dead body must have been dragged along through a cocoa farm and placed lying face upwards under a certain tree. There were blood stain
AI Generated Summary
The Court of Appeal, per Azu Crabbe J.A., dismissed an appeal from a murder conviction entered at the Sekondi criminal session before Justice Djabanor and a jury. The appellant had quarreled with the deceased, Kojo Duku, at the odikro’s house in Aboabo after Duku demanded his share of cocoa farm proceeds. He allegedly told the odikro that Duku was already dead and did not participate in the search. Duku’s body was found the next day with multiple head injuries, a blood trail, and nearby a knife and a mattock. In a police statement (exhibit C) witnessed by an independent observer, the appellant confessed to striking Duku with a long hoe and dragging the body. On appeal, he complained of missing summing-up notes and challenged admission of the confession and sufficiency of evidence. The court held section 277 was complied with, reviewed the record, found the verdict amply supported, and dismissed the appeal.