STATE v. OTCHERE AND OTHERS

JUDGMENT OF KORSAH C.J.

Korsah C. J. delivered the judgment of the court. The accused persons Robert Benjamin Otchere, Joseph Yaw Manu, Tawia Adamafio, Ako Adjei and Hugh Horatio Crabbe are charged with the following offences, namely—(1) conspiracy to commit treason, contrary to sections 23 (1) and 180 (1) of the Criminal Code, 19601; and (2) treason, contrary to section 180 (3), and the second accused Joseph Yaw Manu alone is charged on a third count with misprision of treason, contrary to section 181 of the Criminal Code, 1960.

Particulars of the offence of conspiracy to commit treason charged are that the five persons during the years 1961 and 1962 at Accra in the Republic of Ghana, at Lomé in the Republic of Togo and Abidjan in the Republic of the Ivory Coast did agree together and with Kofi Abrefa Busia, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Oheneba Kow Richardson, Adam Amandi, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey (now deceased), Ashie Nikoi (now deceased), Edward Lartey Tetteh (now deceased) and others, to commit a crime, namely, treason; the particulars of the offence of treason charged are that the five accused persons, during the months of July and August 1962, at Kulungugu in the Upper Region and at other places in the Republic of Ghana, did endeavour to overthrow the Government of Ghana by unlawful means; and the particulars of the offence of misprision of treason charged are that the second accused person, Joseph Yaw Manu, during the months of April to November 1962 at Accra and Kumasi in the Republic of Ghana, knowing of a treason, namely, an endeavour by R. B. Otchere, (the first accused person), Tawia Adamafio (the third accused person), Ako Adjei (the fourth accused person), Hugh Horatio Cofie Crabbe (the fifth accused person), Kofi Abrefa Busia, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Oheneba Kow Richardson, Adam Amandi, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey (now deceased), Ashie Nikoi (now deceased) and others, to overthrow the Government of Ghana by unlawful means, did not forthwith reveal it to the President, a Minister or a police officer. The accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The definition of conspiracy in our law is contained in section 23 of the Criminal Code, 1960,2 and it is:

"(1) If two or more persons agree or act together with a common purpose for or in committing or abetting a crime, whether with or without any previous concert or deliberation, each of them is guilty of conspiracy to commit or abet that crime, as the case may be.

(2) A person within the