A 28-year-old man who posed as a military officer at New Edubiase in the Adansi South District of the Ashanti Region has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in hard labour by an Obuasi Circuit Court. Joseph Appau, an electronic mechanic who claimed that he lived with a certain soldier who he named as Warrant Officer 2 Ackah at the 4BN barracks in Kumasi, pleaded guilty to the charge of falsely pretending to be a public officer, contrary to section 237 of Act 29/60. He initially told military officers who arrested him that he was a soldier stationed at the Signal Regiment, Burma Camp in Accra, and gave his service number as B34. Appau told the trial judge, Gilbert Ayisi Addo that he had wanted to use the military gear to bully his 13-year-old brother after receiving reports that the boy had become stubborn, but this explanation was dismissed as unacceptable. He was accordingly convicted on his plea of guilty and sentenced. The judge also ordered that the military gear be burnt. Presenting the facts of the case, Inspector Albert Anani informed the court that the complainants were military personnel from the 4th Battalion Infantry in Kumasi, who had been attached to the New Edubiase Forestry Commission Task Force. According to prosecution, on July 3, 2011, at about 1:00pm, the complainants spotted the convict behind a building opposite the ECG office at New Edubiase, while they were on patrol within the community with the Forestry Commission officers. He said the convict was fully dressed in the military uniform, comprising a camouflaged long-sleeve shirt, a pair of trousers and military boots. Inspector Anani stated that the complainants became suspicious of the convict due to his mode of dressing and, therefore, approached and questioned him. Appau told the military officers he was one of them and that he was stationed at Signal Regiment, Burma Camp, with service number B34. Prosecution disclosed that this confirmed the suspicion of the complainants, who arrested Appau and handed him over to the Edubiase police. He was charged and arraigned after police investigations. Source: Daily Guide/Ghana