Amos Kevin-Annan, a youth ministry consultant and life coach, has reiterated the call for the enactment of legislation on the use of hazardous products such as acid.
His call comes after a court sentenced a commercial driver to ten years in prison for causing harm to his girlfriend by attacking her with acid.
“The culture of impunity needs to be looked at [by us] as a state,” Kevin-Annan told Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (6 May 2022). “There are individuals who publicly have confessed to beating women and they are walking around; they are in the company of politicians.
“What signal are we sending? For me, that is a big conversation we need to have,” he said.
“As far back as 2017 one gentleman by the name of James Annan had called for laws on things like acid and hazardous products. They are so easily accessible.
“What is stopping us as a nation from taking decisions on these things … You reach out to policymakers. Let them explain to us why it is so difficult for them to restrain people from easily accessing these products,” Kevin-Annan said.
Sentence
Bright Boso, a commercial driver, was sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison for causing harm to his girlfriend, Grace Amezando, by attacking her with acid.
After convicting the accused, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo’s court imposed the long sentence, which is to be served in hard labour (IHL).
In delivering judgment, the court observed that the victim, Grace Amezando, suffered severe injuries as a result of the acid attack, and would require an urgent surgical procedure to treat her eye and prevent her from going blind.
“I plead with civil society and philanthropic organisations to help fund the surgery cost of the victim, about GHC60,000, GHC6,000 of which is needed immediately to restore her sight before she goes blind,” Justice Osei Marfo said in her ruling.
Facts of the case
The brief facts of the case as presented by the prosecution were that the victim, Grace Amezando, was a 24-year-old woman who used to be in a romantic relationship with the accused, Bright Boso, a commercial driver. The victim was cohabiting with the accused in a kiosk on undeveloped land in Christian Village, Accra and they have two children.
Some time in December 2020, Boso, accused the victim of cheating on him with another man called Gyan who lived in their neighbourhood.
On 11 May 2021, the accused and the victim quarrelled over the accusations of unfaithfulness and the victim left the house. She boarded a bus heading towards Ashongman Estate, but the accused followed her and got on the same bus.
She alighted at the Ashongman Estate last stop and the accused did the same. He then verbally abused her in public and told her that she was cheating on him because she was beautiful.
Boso threatened her, saying that she would soon look like an old woman.
On 13 May 2021, the accused went to work and returned some time after midnight (on 14 May 2021). He entered their kiosk, poured an acidic liquid over the victim, who was sleeping at the time, and stepped out again.
A few minutes after Boso had stepped out, the victim started feeling burning sensations on her skin and pain in her eye. She ran out of the kiosk for help and she was rushed to the hospital and eventually referred to the Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for treatment.
Amezando suffered injury to her left eye and sustained burns to her face, chest, breasts and both arms.
Upon arrest, Boso admitted the offence and recounted how, after repair work on the battery of his vehicle, he poured out some of the acid removed from his battery and stored it in a container.
He also said that he poured the acid he had collected on the victim when he returned from work after midnight on 14 May 2021.
Fred Dzakpata
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