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May 17, 1963
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT OF AKAINYAH J.
The appellant was charged with fraud by false pretences, contrary to section 131 of the Criminal Code, 1960,1 and the particulars of the offence are as follows:
"Paul Achampong Cofie Atuahene, Regional Organiser, Builders Brigade, Koforidua, on or about the 7th day of April, 1960, at Tafo in the Eastern Magisterial District, defrauded Benjamin Akuamoah Boateng of the sum of £G20 by falsely pretending that the said sum of money was payable to Ebenezer Aikins-Hawkson the then Regional Organiser of the Builders Brigade at Koforidua before the said Benjamin Akuamoah Boateng could be promoted to the post of Group Leader in the said Builders Brigade."
[p.450]
On the 14th April, 1962, the appellant was convicted by the district magistrate, Koforidua, and sentenced to a term of six months imprisonment with hard labour. Against his conviction, he lodged an appeal and an application for bail was made by counsel on his behalf to the Circuit Court, Accra, (the then appellate court) but the same state attorney who conducted the prosecution at trial and who was seised of the facts, opposed the application successfully. Consequently he was compelled to serve the six months prison term but prosecuted the appeal only to test the validity of the conviction.
I have carefully perused the record of proceedings and heard defence counsel's arguments. In my view, it is needless to review the facts in this judgment. It is sufficient to say that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond all reasonable doubt and, therefore, the appellant was entitled to an acquittal. At all events, all the material witnesses upon whose testimony the prosecution relied to discharge the onus probandi were particeps criminis and on the vital issue as to whether or not any sum of money was paid at all to the appellant, their evidence was conflicting. Apart from the incomplete evidence of the first prosecution witness, who was the only independent witness, the evidence of the accomplices was not corroborated. The learned magistrate failed completely to direct himself that it was unsafe and dangerous to convict on the uncorroborated evidence of accomplices.
When I read the record and heard the appellant's counsel on the 22nd April, 1963, I formed the opinion that the trial was most unfair to the appellant and therefore I decided to grant him leave to appeal and to hear the Attorney-General. On the 7th May, 1963, the learned state attorney who appeared for the responde
AI Generated Summary
Justice Akainyah J. reviewed the conviction of Paul Achampong Cofie Atuahene, a Regional Organiser of the Builders Brigade in Koforidua, for defrauding Benjamin Akuamoah Boateng of £G20 by falsely representing the sum was payable to Ebenezer Aikins-Hawkson for Boateng’s promotion. The appellate court found the trial fundamentally unfair: the prosecution relied on conflicting accomplice testimony without corroboration; the key witness, Edmond Asare Addo, gave incriminating evidence but left the country before cross-examination, rendering his incomplete testimony no evidence; and the magistrate improperly called three additional witnesses to bolster the prosecution, though nothing arose ex improviso. The court also condemned an inspection of the locus in quo at Tafo without recalling witnesses for cross-examination, and criticized the state attorney’s oppressive conduct, reaffirming prosecutors’ duty as ministers of justice. Concluding that the case was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the court allowed the appeal and acquitted Atuahene.