The lawyer for the widow and family of the late Bennet Agyekum Adomah, the owner of Kikibees Restaurant and Lounge, Ralph Poku-Adusei, has refuted the brief facts that the police presented to Madina District Court as the basis for the charge of murder preferred against Mam Yandeh Joof, the woman alleged to have killed Agyekum Adomah.
Lawyer Ralph Poku-Adusei, in an interview with Asaase News, said it is his considered opinion, after reviewing the facts as presented by the police, that the police have failed to conduct an adequate investigation into the death of the deceased, Bennet Agyekum Adomah.
He also says that the prosecution has based its facts solely on the unverifiable statement provided by the accused person, Mam Yandeh Joof, and nothing else.
“I have carefully read and analysed the brief facts of the case as presented by the police in their charge,” Poku-Adusei said, “and I have concluded that the police have failed to live up to their duty of conducting any professional investigations into the circumstances that led to the death of the husband of my client, Claudia Akuoko.
“Of grave concern to me and my client is that the police have gone ahead to put out facts such as the deceased being ‘hyper’ et cetera, though the autopsy report is yet to be ready.
“I was rather expecting that the police will wait for the autopsy report before drawing any conclusions in the matter,” Poku-Adusei said.
The accused person, Mam Yandeh Joof, was first arraigned on Thursday 12 October 2023 at Madina District Court for committal proceedings to start. The accused is due back in court on Friday 27 October for the case to continue.
Brief facts
The brief facts from the police presented to the district court state as follows: “Deceased Bennet Agyekum Adomah, aged 40 … was the owner of KIKIBEES Restaurant and Lounge, located at East Legon and Kwabenya, respectively.
“Suspect Mam Yandeh, aged 31 … is a Gambian and a hotelier living in Ghana. The deceased and the suspect were in an amorous relationship for the past three years. About three months ago, the deceased travelled abroad and returned to Ghana on the evening of 7 October 2023.
“The deceased arrived at his residence at East Legon from the airport around 6pm. He took some rest and later in the night, around 8pm, he left the house to the Kikibees Restaurant and Lounge at East Legon.
“At about 12.30am on 8 October 2023, the deceased left the Kikibees restaurant to visit the suspect in her apartment at Ogbojo.
“Later in the night at about 1.30am, the deceased suddenly became hyper and started behaving strangely and throwing things in the room while shouting that some people were chasing him. The other tenants in the house were awoken by the noise.
“The suspect rang the close friend of the deceased and informed him to come to her apartment to assist her but the friend came and found the deceased lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen throwing his hands about.
“The tenants in the house assisted them and took him to DEL Hospital at East Legon but he was pronounced dead shortly on arrival. The death was reported to the police and the body was conveyed to the Police Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
“During inspection at the scene, pieces of broken ceramic glass with bloodstains were found in the apartment. The body was inspected and a cut was found on the left thumb of the deceased. The investigation is ongoing.”
Call for further investigation
According to Ralph Poku-Adusei, it is very premature for the police to come out with any facts as yet, especially when the autopsy report is not ready and that the facts presented by the police cannot be verified, let alone form the basis for any prosecution.
He further argues that if the police should proceed with the facts as presented, there is a great likelihood that his client, the widow of the deceased, and the Adomah family will not get justice for the murder of their loved one.
To this end, Poku-Adusei is calling on the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to withdraw the current case and initiate a comprehensive and professional investigation into the murder of Bennet Agyekum Adomah.
He also called on the general public and social media users to stop all speculation about the death of Bennet Agyekum Adomah and to allow the widow, Claudia Akuoko, and her five children to mourn their husband and father in peace.
Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra
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