Gregory Afoko and Adams Mahama
An Accra High Court is yet to receive a full medical report on Gregory Afoko, who is before the court for allegedly murdering the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Adams Mahama.
Lawyer for the accused person had told the court that Afoko had a peculiar medical problem and needed some medical attention.
The court presided over by Justice Lawrence L. Mensah subsequently ordered the medical directorate of the Ghana Prisons Service at Nsawam to send Afoko to the Department of Surgery at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for examination and report to the court accordingly.
At the last sitting, the prosecution led by Mathew Amponsah, a senior state attorney, and the defence lawyer, Osafo Buaben, met in the chambers of the presiding judge to discuss the matter.
When the judge returned to the court, he stated that the medical report on Afoko had not yet been sent to the court.
However, he indicated that “the growth seems to be increasing”, without stating what the growth was or what the medical condition was.
He hinted that the report would be ready by August 13, 2018, and same would be submitted to the court.
Case Adjourned
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned the hearing to October 9, 2018, due to the legal vacation which commenced yesterday. The case investigator, who is the last prosecution witness, was expected to testify in the matter.
But since the prosecution and the defence lawyer met in the chambers of the judge, it is unclear why the investigator was not called to the witness box.
Prosecution Witnesses
The state has already called 13 witnesses who have testified in the matter. The last prosecution witness to testify was the pathologist who performed the post-mortem on the late Adams Mahama.
He told the court that the late Adams Mahama remained conscious, fully alert and well-oriented until moments before his death.
He said although he suffered first and second degree burns, with 81 per cent of his body burnt, it is easy for such a person to give an account of any questions posed to him.
He told the court that the fact that Adams Mahama sustained 81 per cent body burns does not necessarily mean he would be in excruciating pain.
On the cause of death, the pathologist told the court that Adams Mahama died an unnatural death due to extensive acid burns.
The pathologist further told the court that the late Adams Mahama had a dead skin as result of the acid burns and the burnt areas felt like leather.
Led in his evidence-in-chief by Mathew Amponsah, Dr. Edusei told the court that as part of his post-mortem analysis, he submitted part of the burnt area of the skin to the pathology laboratory of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where he read the completed slides under a microscope and he found out that the skin was dead.
“So my conclusion is that the cause of death was due to extensive acid burns, an unnatural cause”, Dr. Edusei concluded.
The cross examination of the witness which lasted for almost three hours centered on the cause of death of Adams Mahama.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak