REX v. KWEKU MENSAH AND KWESI ADU

At the Winneba Criminal Assizes before Fuad, J., two soldiers stationed at Winneba Camp were convicted by a jury of murdering fisherman Tetteh Owaraka after an evening confrontation on 26 October 1941 in Winneba. With a third soldier present, the trio chased two civilians, caught Owaraka, and beat him. Eyewitness Araba Ntesi heard one assailant say “stab him with a knife” and another threaten “I’ll kill you now”; a bystander in European clothes was also threatened and fled. Owaraka was found stabbed and died from the wound. On appeal, a joint bench of Kingdon C.J., Petrides C.J., and Bannerman J. held the trial judge’s directions misdirected the jury on fact and law by treating the killing as “murder in both” despite an unidentified third participant and uncertainty as to who stabbed or instigated. Applying Criminal Code section 47(1), the court explained that a non-instigating participant would at most commit assault under section 84, and manslaughter did not arise. The first appellant’s police statement implicated Kwesi Adu in the beating but admitted he did not see a knife and was not evidence against the second appellant. Given unresolved doubt about each appellant’s role, both convictions were quashed and acquittals entered; the appellants were discharged.