No Show At ‘Witch’ Killer’s Trial

Hajia Filipina

There was no show at the trial of Sherina Mohammed, aka Hajia Filipina, aged 40, who is currently in custody over the lynching of Akua Denteh, a 90-year-old woman at Kafaba in the Savannah Region, for allegedly being a witch.

Counsel for accused, Abass Kalimba Amankwa, could not make it to the Tamale High Court yesterday and for that reason the case was adjourned to April 29, 2021.

The State Attorney prosecuting the case, Francis Ayamwuni Asobayire, after the case was adjourned told DAILY GUIDE that the continuous adjournment of the case is delaying the justice process.

“At the last adjourned date we were expecting the lawyer for the accused persons in court but unfortunately he was unable to make it but he suggested Monday, April 19, 2021, so the court granted that but he had earlier on applied for bail and the court adjourned that for ruling,” he said, adding “unfortunately the ruling is not forthcoming because the lawyer is not coming to court, we are always in court but the accused lawyer is not present.”

According to him, the prosecution is ready with their first witness but the court will not permit the case to go on without the lawyer of the accused persons in court, saying, “Lawyers inability to come to court has always occasioned delays because there will always be adjournments.”

He noted that the state was hopeful that the court could use three months to hear the case but the continuous absence of the lawyer of the accused persons might affect the targeted duration for the case.

Main Case

Hajia Filipina and Latifah Bumaye, 25, a trader believed to be an associate of the ringleader in the Akua Denteh lynching, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, murder and trial by ordeal.

The prosecution told the court that the accused persons took the victim through unlawful trial, which the laws of Ghana does not allow, by compelling her to drink some concoction to prove she was not a witch, resulting in her death, for which they have been arraigned before the high court.

The gruesome lynching of Akua Denteh, which sparked outrage, occurred at Kafaba, near Salaga in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region last year.

The case was transferred from the Bole District Magistrate Court in the Savannah Region to the Tamale High Court.

Initially, five men namely Haruna Anass, 34; Issahaka Tanko, 35; Shaibu Murtala, 29; Sulemana Ali, 35, and Issahaka Sachebu, 32, were arrested in connection with the lynching, but they were subsequently discharged.

FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale