I am not sure any of the framers of the 1992 Constitution anticipated a standoff between the Ghana Police Service and a court of competent jurisdiction when it demanded that the police seek authorization of a court before holding a suspect of any crime beyond 48 hours.
Unfortunately, this is the case in the matter of Gregory Afoko whose bail has seen the police service in open defiance of the constitution and properly constituted High Court of Ghana.
The police hierarchy have even on the verge of facing contempt charges refused to release Gregory Afoko to the High Court in furtherance of the bail that was granted him as far back as March 14, 2019 after spending close to 4 years in custody.
Under the bail arrangements, a suspect is released once the Registrar of the Court which granted the bail notifies the agency holding him that the bail terms have been met.
This was however not the case in Gregory Afoko’s situation as he has been held in custody under stricter conditions after the court issued the notification.
The family and his lawyers initially thought the police were just being extra cautious when they indicated that they wanted to be sure the bail conditions were truly met.
They later found out the move was just a ploy to keep Gregory Afoko detained as what followed was a worsening of his conditions in detention and initimidation of his sureties.
To put things in perspective, the bail for Gregory Afoko was set at GH₵500,000 with two sureties, one of whom was to be justified; meaning, one of his sureties has to show that he is at least worth GH₵500,000.
Sources close to Gregory Afoko’s family tell Radiogoldlive.com it was difficult getting willing sureties with properties and cash worth GH₵500,000 because of the fear of intimidation from assigns of the Nana Akuffo-Addo led administration; after all, he is being held over the murder of the late Upper East Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
After weeks of struggles to meet the bail conditions, Gregory Afoko’s lawyers have been caught up in another frustrating legal tussle over his release.
It is a battle for an institution set up under the 1992 Constitution to enforce the letters of the same constitution to respect the constitution; you see, confusing.
The Ghana Police can at this point be said to be holding Gregory Afoko in illegal detention by refusing to obey the orders of the High Court; in other words, pissing over the same constitution that sets them up.
For a bit of a background, Gregory Afoko has been in custody since May 2015 as the main suspect in the acid attack that led to the death of the then Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP.
He was arrested on the accounts of the persons who allegedly took the late Adams Mahama to the hospital after the acid bath.
After a long trial which was its tail end, the state led by the Attorney General in January 2019 filed a nolle prosequi to end the entire trial; their reason, they have arrested the second suspect who has been on the run.
Asabke Alangdi was arrested in Cote D’Ivoire after being on the run since 2015 and the truncation of a three year old trial was because the Attorney General thought it wise to try the two together.
This left Gregory Afoko with the fate of facing another year in custody as a suspect.
Having realized his peculiar situation, his lawyers went before the High Court headed by Justice George Buadi to make a simple plea for their client to be granted bail.
They argued that as a suspect who is still innocent until proven guilty, he has been in custody for far too long.
They also drew his attention to the fact that the Supreme Court had in a recent landmark decision ruled that all crimes are bailable; meaning, their client cannot be held in detention for such a long period on the justification that he is facing a murder charge.
They rejoiced when their application was granted, hopeful that they will have their client, Gregory Afoko home and with his family soon.
Little did they know that they had just gotten themselves into a new tussle, this time for the soul of the constitution.
So, tomorrow July 3, 2019, the High Court will seek an explanation from the Inspector General of Police David Asante Apeatu and his Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) as to why Gregory Afoko is still in jail.
This time, all Afoko lawyers will have will be ringside seats to a fight that they never anticipated but which was not far fetched to have anticipated; raising question, “Has Gregory Afoko been already found guilty?”
Story by: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
