An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced three persons accused of robbing founder of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Akua Donkor, to a total of 60 years in prison.

The accused Yakubu Yussif, one Banabas Kayase and Abdul Razak Shaibu were dragged to the court after a complaint was made to the police that they had on December 30, 2016 robbed the GFP founder of $30,000 while she was on her way to the airport.

All three pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to rob and robbery.

On the said date, Madam Donkor was being driven to the Kotoka International Airport from Taifa to catch a flight to the United States of America.

The three suspects

She was in the company of Yusif and Kayase, who was driving. 

The prosecutor, Chief Inspector Duuti Tuaruka, explained that Madam Donkor decided to make a stopover at her house before heading for the airport.

“On reaching Sowutuom, Shaibu, Joe and Nuamah, armed with guns, appeared on a motorbike behind the vehicle. As soon as Kayase spotted the armed men, he reduced the speed of the car and switched on double hazard to signal that Madam Donkor was in the car,’’ the Inspector Tuaruka said.

Kayase is said to have immediately parked the car and Shaibu, Joe and Nuamah attacked Madam Donkor.

“The robbers dragged Madam Donkor from the vehicle and snatched her travelling bag containing $30,000, a plane ticket, a Ghanaian passport, a voter’s ID card and GH¢2,000 and escaped,’’ the prosecution added.

But the suspects told the court that they only attacked the GFP founder because they wanted to stop her from filing a petition at the International Court of Justice to challenge the December 2016 election results.

They said they only intended to steal her travelling documents not money.

The presiding judge, Justice Aboagye Tanoh, however, questioned the veracity of their testimonies.

He noted that after suspects were apprehended and officers retrieved the bag, the travelling documents were found in the bag not the money.

The money was later found in the suspects home, so if they intended to prevent her from travelling, the documents would have been on them at the time of the search and not the money.

Justice Aboagye Tanoh then described the testimonies of the accused persons as full of half truths and contradictions leaving the court with no other choice than to find them guilty for committing the offence. 

They are each to serve 20 years for the two charges. The sentences are to run concurrently. They are also to refund the remainder of the amount they stole.

Madam Akua Donkor, was elated by the court's judgement. She said she is satisfied by the 20-year jail term handed the robbers.

The two other accomplices, Joe and Nuamah are on the run and are being pursued by the police.