No gunshot wounds on Ya-Na's body • Pathologist tells court

Friday, October 15, 2010 (Page 3 Lead)

A PATHOLOGIST at the 37 Military Hospital yesterday told the Accra Fast Track High Court that there were no gunshot wounds on the body of the late Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II.
Answering a question from the foreman of the seven-member jury hearing the case involving 15 persons who have been accused of playing various roles resulting in the death of the Ya-Na, Brigadier-General J. M. Wadhwani said “no pellet was removed from the body of the Ya-Na”.
The foreman of the jurors asked the question after the court had been taken by surprise when a Chief State Attorney, Mr Rexford Owiredu, had informed the court that there would no re-examination of the pathologist after he had made such request a day earlier.
Mr Owiredu had on Wednesday insisted on an adjournment to enable him to re-examine the pathologist on aspects of his testimony at the trial of Yidani Sugri and another in 2003, following the death of the Ya-Na.
On that day, he had series of hot arguments with the lead defence counsel, Mr Philip Addison, who questioned the basis for Mr Owiredu’s insistence on an adjournment for re-examination on the grounds that “I do not see the reason for him to ask for an adjournment just to cross-examine the witness on three lines from the Yidana Sugri trial”.
The issue in contention had to do with excerpts from the Yidana Sugri trial in which the pathologist was cross-examined by defence counsel for Yidana Sugri. Sugri was later acquitted and discharged alongside his alleged accomplice, Iddrisu Gyanfo in 2003.
The following had transpired between the defence lawyer and Dr Wadhwani during the Yidani Sugri trial.
Defence counsel: Do you think that it is possible that the body identified to you could have been that of anyone else?
Dr Wadhwani: Yes, it is possible.
Defence counsel also quoted Dr Wadhwani from the Wuaku Commission’s report and excerpts from the Yidani Sugri trial in which he (Dr Wadhwani) described the body of the late Ya-Na as “charred remains of an adult male”.
Following the reading of the excerpts, which somehow contradicted Dr Wadhwani’s Wednesday’s testimony to the court in which he placed a name on what he had described in 2002 and 2003 as “charred remains of an adult male”, the prosecutor sought an adjournment to enable him to read the entire proceedings from the Yidani Sugri trial to enable him to cross-examine effectively.
Consequently, the pathologist arrived on the court premises before 9 a.m. and waited until 11:26 a.m. when he was called into the witness box only for Mr Owiredu to state that “there would be no re-examination of the witness”.
Mr Addison did not take kindly to Mr Owiredu’s position and stated that Mr Owiredu had not been fair to the court, the witness and other parties in the case.
Although, the trial judge, Mr Justice E. K. Ayebi, shared a similar sentiment, Mr Owiredu insisted he had not been unfair to anybody.
Mr Owiredu then informed the court that the investigator in charge of the case, Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, had just arrived from The Sudan, from a peacekeeping mission and for that reason the prosecution would need a short adjournment to adequately hold a conference with the investigator.
The Chief State Attorney also informed the court that the prosecution could not locate audio and video recordings and transcripts on the Wuaku Commission sittings.
According to him, the secretary who handled those documents was dead.
The matter was accordingly adjourned to Monday, October 18, 2010.
Those standing trial are Iddrisu Iddi, alias Mbadugu; Alhaji Baba Abdulai, alias Zohe; Kwame Alhassan, alias Achiri; Mohammed Abdulai, alias Samasama; Sayibu Mohammed; Alhassan Braima and Zakaria Yakubu, alias Zakaria Forest, who is currently on the run.
The rest are Mohammed Habib Tijani, the former District Chief Executive of Yendi; Baba Ibrahim, alias Baba Zey; Alhassan Mohammed, alias Mohammed Cheampon; Mohammed Mustapha; Shani Imoro; Yakubu Yusif, alias Leftee; Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif, alias Nyaa Dagbani.
All the accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu, have been charged with conspiracy to murder and have pleaded not guilty to the charge. Zakaria has been charged with murder.