Afoko opens defence
Gregory Francis Asianab Afoko who is standing trial for the murder of the former Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party on Monday started, giving his evidence in Chief, before an Accra High Court and said he was a farmer who lived in Bolgatanga.
He said it was not true that he conspired with one Asabke in the murder of Mr Adams Mahama, because he had never conspired with anybody to commit such an act.
He said he had a sick father who is on medication of whom he had been taking care of for over a year and three months prior to the said event on May 20, 2015.
He said on May 20, after he had administered his father’s medication to him around 1830 hours when he left home on his motorbike to meet some of his New Patriotic Party members and also later met one Asabke Alangdi and Dominic Baba Apaya, both of whom are cousins and lived in the same place.
“We met at Dominics house, there is a drinking spot there, so I bought beer for them and we discussed what we will be doing the following day and they later invited another old man to join us at the table.”
He told the court that when he was about to leave, Asabke asked him to drop him at the junction, which he did, and got home at exactly 2000 hours, went into his room and gave another medicine to his dad and both of them retired to bed.
“I never went out again until somewhere around 0200 to 0300 hours there about the following day, I heard the voice of DSP Agbanyo calling me, Afoko, and so my dad got up and tapped me to go out. When I went outside through the hall door, someone held me by my boxer shorts and said I was under arrest.”
He said when he enquired why he was under arrest; the person told him that when they get to the police station he would know what he had done.
Afoko said they were many policemen including Taufic who then started searching the whole house. “I took them into my room, and because I was not wearing anything I took a smock to wear, but because the handcuffs were on my hand, I could not wear it. So I gave the keys to my room to the crime officer after they had finished searching”.
The accused told the court that he did not know the name of the crime officer, but his personal assistant was one Frimpong who was with him, adding that DSP Agbanyo was a friend who frequents their house.
He said after they searched his room and when they were about leaving, the police team asked him to open the garage, which he did. They went in and searched a vehicle which was parked in there. But they found nothing and took him away.
He said the Policemen later asked him to lead them to Asabke’s house. When we got there, some of them went into the house to look for Asabke and left a few of them with me.
He said when they came back they said Asabke was not in but Asabke’s father followed them to the vehicle and because they could not speak Frafra , they asked him to find out from the old man the whereabouts of Asabke of which old man replied that he had not seen his son for the past five days.
Afoko said from there they took him straight to the Police station, where he spent less than an hour in the Bolgatanga Police cells and was later sent him to a cell in Tamale.
“I spent two days in Tamale police cells. Then chief Inspector Blay, Prosecution witness came to take a statement from me and then after that another team led by Superintendent William Seduame and one Inspector Nkrumah came and took me in a pickup and brought me to Accra, after they took photographs of me.”
In reaction to the tracksuit trousers which the prosecution tendered in evidence gathered from his room with stains of acid, he told the court that it was a rain coat he used as a motor rider for fun.
“It is a top and down, all in one plastic bag. Ever since my dad fell sick I dumped them in the room. Because I was in the farm when I heard that he had broken his knee. I rushed home, dropped my plastic bag and took him to Accra. So for over one year three months I have not touched the bag.”
He told the court that the day they came to search his house, they did not find anything. On our way to Accra, Inspector Nkrumah and Superintendent Seduame told me that when I was in Tamale cells that they went to my house and took my raincoat.
He said he asked the policemen whether they took both the up and down, but they said they only picked the trousers.
“They transported me in a Toyota pickup with the gallon and the tracksuit all in one box at the bucket of the pickup. When we got to Accra, we went to the Police headquarters, they then removed the box and sent them upstairs.”
He said they later took him to a Police station at East Legon and the following morning they came to pick him to the Police headquarters to take his finger prints.
Afoko said after that, they proceeded to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where at the Plastic Surgery Unit, two doctors examined a wound on his leg which they said might be as a result of acid burns.
He said the doctors asked him to remove his cloths and examined his whole body and after they issued a report.
“After all that, the two took me back to the police headquarters and during conversation, they told me that the finger prints that was found on the cup and gallon were not mine, so they were of the believe that, I was not the one who did it. So I asked them to let me go, but they refused, saying unless they took me to court.”
Afoko said he and Mr Mahama were related, they had no quarrels and so he was not the one who poured the substance on him, adding that all that the prosecution witnesses had said were not true.
He said apart from the statements he gave to the Tamale Police, he did you give any other statement to the police.
He said the police in Accra gave him a paper to write his statement but he refused and told them that he was relying on his earlier written statement in Tamale and that it was the truth and so he stand by it.
He reiterated that, all that has been said, in the court by the witnesses were not true.
During cross examination by prosecution, the witness said that all he had told the court was true.
He said he was a native of Saandema, but was born in Accra, and has lived his whole life in Bolgatanga because his father settled there.
He said, he did not hold any position in the NPP, but he is a member of the youth wing in Bolgatanga, play active role in the party in Navrongo, Paga and Sandema.
“I was an active member because my dad was a member of the Council of State for 8 years and was a founding member of the party, and the whole family was part of the party”.
When asked, how he got to know Asabke, Afoko told the court that he had known him for over five years as both members of the party, he was a member and organiser of the electoral area and they met at the party head office to discuss the welfare of the party frequently.
The case was later adjourned to November 20 for continuation of cross examination.
Source: GNA