The ex-Queenmother of Mankessim in the Central region, Nana Ama Amissah III, and four others, including a Fire Service officer, are expected to make their maiden court appearance at the Weija-Gbawe Magistrate Court on Monday.
This is over the alleged murder of Samuel Ampofo, the Mankessim Municipal Director of the National Investigations Bureau, and one Kofi Yamoah over the installation of a new queenmother.
Three others, including a police inspector, also received gunshot injuries.
The prosecution of the accused comes after six years of investigations by the Cold Case Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
Though 13 suspects said to be connected to the shooting incident that occurred on December 7, 2019, at about 1:30 p.m. at Anaafo Estate Junction, Mankessim, were arrested, the Attorney General’s Office, charged and advised the prosecution of six people, including the ex-queenmother.
The accused, who are due to face committal proceedings at the court, are James Kofi Obosu, also known as Nana Obosu Amissah, a farmer; Nana Ama Amissah III, ex-queen mother of Mankessim; Joseph Kobina Ansah, also known as Nana Okutseku, a Fire Service officer; and Robert Gardiner, a driver.The others are John Eric Kofi Turkson, also known as Nana Edu, and Clement Kwesi Owusu, an electrical contractor and teacher, respectively.
Nana Ama Amissah III is alleged to have masterminded the shooting incident after chairing a meeting where the accused allegedly planned the disturbance.
Background
On December 7, 2019, at about 1:30 p.m., a procession on the principal streets of Mankessim following the installation of the new queenmother, Nana Araba Otua I, turned bloody when a gunman opened fire into the crowd, killing two persons.
The installation followed a Cape Coast High Court ruling that quashed the gazetting of Nana Osagyefo Amanfo Edu VI and Nana Ama Amissah III following a suit filed by the Paakesedo Nsona Family challenging the legitimacy of the duo.
The deceased, who were pronounced dead at the Mankessim Roman Hospital, were identified as Samuel Ampofo, the Mfanseman Municipal Director of the National Investigations Bureau, and Kofi Yamoah.
Police investigations revealed that when the procession got close to the family house of the Edu Nsona Royal family, one of the two gates laying claim to the Mankessim paramountcy, members of the Aduko Paakesedo Nsona Family had a tip-off that some people were planning to disrupt the installation of the new queenmother.
A witness in the case who went in to verify the information met Nana Obosu Amissah in possession of a pump-action gun in the company of Clement Owusu and Nana Edu.
Nana Amissah fired at the witness but missed.
It was at this point that the deceased NIB Director, Samuel Ampofo, saw Nana Obosu and asked him to put the gun down. The plea fell on deaf ears as Obosu allegedly shot him at close range.
The action of the accused angered a section of the mob, who chased, overpowered, and attempted to lynch him but for the swift intervention of the police.
While a postmortem examination revealed the deceased died of gunshot wounds, a ballistic examination on pellets retrieved from the bodies of the deceased indicated they were capable of being fired from a pump action or a single-barrelled gun.
A witness in the case at an identification parade conducted in May 2022 identified the accused James Kofi Obosu as the one who shot and killed Samuel Ampofo and Kofi Yamoah.
Police Investigations
A 7-member police team from the Cold Case Unit at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service spent months investigating the case.
During a case docket review between 2021 and 2022, the unit picked up fresh intelligence leading to the arrest of the other accused persons in 2023.
These included WhatsApp chats, audio recordings, and face-to-face interviews with witnesses.
While the first accused, James Kofi Obosu, was the first to be arrested in Mankessim, followed by four others, Nana Ama Amissah was later arrested at the CID Headquarters in Accra when she honoured a police invitation to assist investigations.
Police investigations revealed a longstanding chieftaincy feud between the Paakesedo Nsona and Edu Nsona royal families that instigated the shooting incident.
On November 29, 2019, the Cape Coast High Court quashed the gazette of Nana Osagyefo Amanfo Edu V1 and Nana Ama Amissah III, respectively following a writ filed by the Aduko Paakesedo Royal family.
The court argued that the Chieftaincy Declaration Forms B of the two traditional leaders were forged and therefore defective.
Following this ruling, the Aduko Paakesedo Family decided to install a new queenmother on December 7, 2019.
The dissatisfied accused persons tried to use the police to thwart attempts of their opponents to install new chiefs.
Sources at the Attorney-General’s office say when all efforts of the Edu Nsona Royal family to use police and the Municipal Security Council to stop the installation failed, they hatched a plan to ‘import’ and arm some Zongo Boys from Kumasi to disrupt the installation.
This plan was allegedly hatched during a series of meetings organised at the behest of the embattled ex-queenmother.
The first accused, James Kofi Obosu, allegedly negotiated with a Zongo chief to bring the “Boys” at a cost of GHȼ10,000.00.
On December 7, 2019, Nana Obosu is alleged to have met Yahaya and his thugs at the Mankessim Roundabout at about 4 a.m. and allegedly took them to Okutseku’s house, where they were briefed and guns and machetes were handed over to them to cause mayhem.
The thugs were alleged to later been sent to the Edu Nsona Royal family house at Anaafo Junction, where they allegedly shot the Mankessim Municipal Director of NIB, Samuel Ampofo, and Kofi Yamoah.
Three persons, Frederick Amonoo, Kwasi Owusu, and Detective Chief Inspector William Nyarko, were also injured.
GNA