The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has indicated that the police administration will soon review the whole investigation process of the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, the late Overlord of Dagbon. The move is to establish whether there were lapses in previous investigations and what additional evidence could be obtained to nail those who are alleged to have murdered the Ya Na. "We will look for pieces of evidence that should have been collected but were overlooked or certain witnesses who should have been called but were not, as well as other areas that should have been covered in order to do a thorough job,” he declared. In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra Wednesday, the IGP said, "If there is the need for forensic investigations, it will be done, but first of all the police need to know what went wrong with the investigations." He said should any fresh evidence be found against the 15 acquitted persons during the review process, fresh charges would be preferred against them. Mr Quaye said investigations were an ongoing process and so the police would liaise with the Attorney-General's (A-G's) Department during the review exercise. He said after the investigations had been concluded in the first instance, the docket would be handed over to the A-G's office for study and action. On Tuesday, March 29, 2011, the Accra Fast Track High Court acquitted and discharged 15 persons accused of allegedly conspiring to murder the Overlord of Dagbon in March 2002. According to Mr Justice E.K. Ayebi, the trial judge, the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against all the accused persons on the grounds that evidence led by the 12 prosecution witnesses had been inconsistent, fabricated stories against the accused persons and were subsequently discredited on cross-examination. The court held that the prosecution also failed to prove that the charred remains of an adult male body were that of the Ya Na to warrant the prosecution of the accused persons in the first place. "It was not sufficient for the prosecution to say that the Ya Na was dead and leave it at that. Even the investigation was not conclusive of the identity of the charred body nor was a DNA examination conducted to prove that the body was that of the Ya Na," it said. "In law, the death of the Ya Na must be proven beyond reasonable doubt, especially in the absence of a death certificate. If the prosecution failed to prove that the charred remains were the body of the Ya Na. then the accused persons could not be held liable for the death of the Ya Na," the trial judge held. According to the court, the prosecution witnesses who testified against the 15 were the same persons who testified against Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Jahinfo in 2002 for the murder of the Ya Na. The two were acquitted and discharged. A total of 12 witnesses testified in the case, which began in July 2010. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana