Three jailed 60 years for robbery

November 17, 2010 (Page 3 Lead)

THE Accra Circuit Court has sentenced three persons to a total of 60 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for conspiracy and robbery.
The convicts, Salifu Masawudu, an architect, Kwaku Ahiahonu, a mason, and Agbogbah Althanazius Bismark Kwame, a computer analyst, were convicted after the court found them guilty on two counts of robbery and conspiracy.
They were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on each count, but the sentences would run concurrently.
Salifu, 21, Kwaku, 24 and Kwame, 23 and two others, who are on the run, committed the offence about 6:30 p.m. on December 18, 2008 when they forcibly entered the premises of SIDALCO Company Limited on the Spintex Road in Accra.
In the process, they fired warning shots and ordered the complainant, his friend and workers to lie prostrate while they ransacked the office.
Consequently, the convicts made away with GH¢50,000, $20,000, two laptops worth GH¢3,000, 32 cellular phones worth GH¢3,200 and a gold ring valued at $50,000.
The convicts also took away cash of GH¢4,700 and three cellular phones belonging to the complainant’s friend, the Head Pastor of the Ashaiman branch of the Action Faith Ministry, who was in the office of the complainant during the incident.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the court, presided over by Mr Justice C. A. Wilson, a High Court judge with additional responsibility as a Circuit Court judge, stated that the prosecution was able to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Mr Justice Wilson held that the action of the convicts was violent, callous and premeditated.
He said the prosecution also proved that the three convicts actively participated in the offence, adding that “there is a high rate of robbery in the country and in my view there is justifiable reason to impose a severe sentence, which will serve as a deterrent”.
After the conviction, Salifu wept bitterly in open court and blamed the other accused persons for his fate.
The facts of the case were that on December 18, 2008, the Pastor had visited the Managing Director of SIDALCO Limited, when the convicts and two others attacked them and robbed them in the process.
The two friends reported the incident to the East Legon Police after the incident and during investigations Kwame was arrested. He led the police to the house of Kwaku, who turned out to be residing directly opposite the complainant’s company premises.