KWEKU ATTAH v. THE REPUBLIC

This Supreme Court appeal concerns a fatal acid attack arising from a turbulent marriage between a taxi driver and his wife, Akua Praba alias Sekina, in Nkanfoa near Cape Coast. After failed reconciliation attempts and earlier violence, the wife was splashed with acid while sleeping with her children, who also suffered burns. The appellant’s caution statement (Exhibit D) admitted throwing acid to “teach her a lesson,” and circumstantial evidence—including a plastic container matching his description and acid burns on his hands—corroborated the confession. He later denied the statement and claimed alibi without statutory notice. Convicted of murder and sentenced to death, his appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed. Before the Supreme Court, he challenged the confession’s admissibility for lack of an independent witness and argued evidentiary insufficiency. The Court held the confession properly admitted, found no miscarriage of justice, noted corroboration, rejected the alibi contention, and unanimously dismissed the appeal, affirming the conviction.