The Cape Coast Magistrate’s Court has directed prosecutors handling the fatal shooting incident at Mankessim over chieftaincy disputes to expedite investigations to allow a full trial to commence immediately.

The Prosecution, led by DSP Daniel Gadzo, told the court on Tuesday that investigators were still working to gather more evidence and retrieve the murder weapon, and appealed for more time.

The presiding judge, Madam Anita Sheila Crabbe, granted the request and remanded Eric Ato Appiah Mends, the 45-year-old accused, into prison custody again to reappear on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

She, however, instructed that the investigations must be completed as soon as possible for full trial to start before the end of the year.

Appiah Mends, popularly called Ato Kyinam, allegedly shot and killed Mr Alfred Yamson, also known as Kwesi Mitchell, during rituals to commence the Odambea Festival, celebrated across the Nkusukum Traditional Area.

The alleged shooting happened when two feuding factions clashed during a procession through the Mankessim township with a cow to commence rituals for the festival.

Details around the alleged shooting remain sketchy.

However, Ebusuapanyin Solomon Ato Budu-Hagan, Head of Family, Twidan Ebusua, Nkusumkum Amanse of Mankessim, told the Ghana News Agency after the court hearing that his side attempted to stop the rituals from going on because the customs had been breached.

It was his case that there was no active kingmaker (Obaatan), to perform the customary rites with the cow as custom demanded, as the Obaatan had been suspended.

He alleged that a stranger had been foisted on them as Obaatan to perform the rites, a move they had vehemently resisted and petitioned all relevant bodies, including the Regional House of Chiefs, on same.

“They proceeded with it and there was a misunderstanding and without any provocation, the accused person shot one of my kinsmen dead,” he said.

He was hopeful that the police and the court would do a diligent work to bring justice to the family.