Dominic Kwame Obeng-Andoh
Dominic Kwame Obeng-Andoh, the director of a private medical centre in Accra, Obengfo Hospital, who has been arraigned before an Accra Magistrate Court for alleged murder, has successfully executed his bail terms.
An Accra High Court presided over by Justice Kofi Dorgu last month granted the embattled medical practitioner bail in the sum of GH¢100,000 with two sureties, one of whom must be justified.
Earlier reports indicated that the doctor was struggling to fulfil the bail terms as a result of the condition of justifying one of the sureties, considering the money involved.
But the doctor has now successfully met all the conditions for bail set out by a criminal division of the Accra High Court in July 2018.
Mr. Obeng-Andoh, who often comes to court in the company of police officers, showed up in his own car for the proceedings.
He was accompanied by a cleaner at the hospital, Edward Amponsah, who is also before the Magistrate Court for impersonation.
Bail
Mr. Obeng-Andoh was on July 27, 2018, granted bail by the court presided over by Justice Kofi Dorgu in the sum of GH¢100,000 with two sureties, one of whom must be justified.
The accused was earlier denied bail after the same court had ruled that the proper charge against the suspect would have been medical negligence which is not necessarily a crime but the circumstances surrounding the handling of the dead body appear to suggest a foul play.
But his lawyer, Jonathan Dzansi, went back to the court with a repeated application, giving the court various reasons why Mr. Obeng-Andoh posed no threat to police investigations.
Although the state represented by Ashong Okai vehemently opposed the bail application saying the police were still investigating the matter and the doctor when granted bail would interfere with police investigations and witnesses, the court granted him bail.
In his ruling on the application, Justice Kofi Dorgu said “it is clear the police have gone to the hospital and as at now they have in their possession all documents they need and I don’t see how the accused person will interfere with investigations when granted bail”. Therefore, Justice Dorgu granted the accused person bail.
Per the bail terms, the sureties are to deposit passport size pictures of themselves at the court’s registry for easy identification.
Dr. Obeng-Andoh is also to deposit his passport and travel documents at the court’s registry, and he must notify the court if he intends to travel out of the jurisdiction.
Duplicate Docket
Meanwhile, the police have forwarded a duplicate docket on the two accused to the office of the Attorney-General (AG).
The embattled medical practitioner is before an Accra Magistrate Court for allegedly murdering Stacy Offei Darko, Deputy CEO of National Entrepreneurship Innovative Plan (NEIP), in May 2018.
The deceased is said to have gone to the medical facility for liposuction and fat transfer surgery.
Appearing before the Magistrate Court, Detective Sergeant Rose Animah, who held the brief of Detective Chief Inspector Simon Apiorsornu, told the court presided over by Magistrate Afia Sackey that they had forwarded the duplicate docket to the AG and they were yet to receive advice from the office.
She said the accused persons have successfully executed their bail conditions and prayed the court to adjourn the matter to allow the AG to study the docket.
Magistrate Afia Sackey indicated that since the two accused persons were on bail, she would give a four-week adjournment. Subsequently, she adjourned the matter to September 13, 2018.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak