Lamptey-Mills before Court

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (Front Page)

THE Proprietor of the Great Lamptey Mills Institute, Mr Enoch Nii Lamptey Mills, yesterday appeared before the Accra Circuit Court charged with compulsory marriage.
Mr Mills, alias Mr Tee, allegedly impregnated one of his former students and forced her to marry him at age 16.
The accused person, who wore a white linen shirt over a white linen pair of trousers, looked composed when he appeared in court in the company of his lawyer.
The matter was, however, heard in camera at the chambers of the trial judge, Mrs Georgina Datsa-Mensah.
According to sources, the victim’s mother and another person whose name and identity were not disclosed have also been charged along with Mr Mills.
Sources close to the case told journalists that Mr Mills, who is currently on police enquiry bail, is expected to reappear next week.
Although Mr Mills had come out to publicly deny knowledge of any case against him, records at the Ministries Police Station indicated that he was arrested on September 9, 2009 and released the following day.
According to the sources, Mr Mills allegedly promised to compensate the victim with a building but he told the police that the building he had promised the girl was at the roofing level.
Mr Mills, they said, also allegedly promised to take the then yet-to-be-born child to South Africa to educate it there, while the mother would remain in Ghana to continue her education to the university level.
They said the accused person’s relationship with the girl started when he was paying the victim’s school fees after she had informed him that her parents were unable to pay her fees.
The Daily Graphic, in its September 11, 2009 issue, reported Mr Mills’s arrest by the police for impregnating and forcing to marry the girl.
One year after the girl had been delivered of a baby, Mr Mills had allegedly failed to keep to his promise of building a house for her, providing for the upkeep of the mother and the child, as well as restoring the girl to school.
Great Lamptey-Mills Institute, formerly Lamptey-Mills Institute, was established on February 4, 1963 by the late Rev Abraham Samuel Lamptey-Mills after whom the school was named.
The Junior High School Department was later established on September 31, 1994 by the current director of the school, Mr Enoch Lamptey-Mills.
The Senior Secondary Department was also founded in 2005 by the same director.
He was among a number of persons who received national awards last year.