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JUDGMENT
JUDGMENT
The accused persons herein were arraigned before this court charged with the offence of
Defrauding by false pretences contrary to section 131 (1) of the Criminal and other
Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The particulars of offence read as follows: “1.Nketiah Boateng, aged 75 years, farmer; 2.
Sekyere Moses, aged 37 years, Mason; During the year 2013 at Japekrom in the Jaman
South Municipality and within the jurisdiction of this Court, with intent to defraud you
obtained the consent of one Fedelis Mortty to part with cash the sum of GH¢14,200.00 by
means of certain false pretences to wit, by falsely pretending that if the said amount is
given to you, you could give him four (4) plots of land and upon such false representation
you succeeded in obtaining the said amount from the said Fedelis Mortty which
statement you well knew at the time was false.
Both accused persons pleaded not guilty after the charge had been read out and explained
to them in the Twi language.
The burden was therefore entirely placed on the prosecution to prove the guilt of accused
persons beyond reasonable doubt as per sections 11 (2) and 13(1) of the Evidence Act
1975, [NRCD 323] and also as stated in the case of Asare Vrs. The Republic [1978] GLR
193-199, per Anin J.A. (as he then was) that;
“As a general rule, there was no burden on the accused to establish his innocence, rather it was
the prosecution that was required to prove the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubt”.
BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE
The facts as borne out of the charge sheet are that, Complainant Fedelis Mortty is a
contractor whereas Accused persons Nketiah Boateng (A1), aged 75 years is a farmer and
Sekyere Moses (A2) aged 31 years is a mason. Both are relatives and residents of
Japekrom. During the year 2013, A1 met Complainant (PW1) and through conversation
he told complainant that he has plots of land for sale. Complainant then confirmed from
A2 who was his employee by then and A2 confirmed that A1 has plots. That, A1 has
given him two plots to sell and use the money to secure travelling documents. A1 and A2
were able to convince complainant and took him to the land and sold four (4) plots of
land valued GH¢12,000.00 to him. A2 sold his cashew crops on the land to complainant
at a cost of GH¢1,200.00 and also collected GH¢1000.00 from complainant and uprooted
cashew trees on the land. A1 made change of ownership and handed it over to
complainant and he also made t