Eric Kojo Duah, who is on trial for the killing of two police officers on the Kasoa-Budumburam-Accra highway, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following his plea bargain deal with the state.
Kojo Duah, the alleged perpetrator responsible for the fatal shooting of General Lance Corporal Mohammed Awal and Lance Corporal Michael Dzamesi on August 28, 2019, initially denied the charges of murder but ultimately pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter.
In accordance with the terms of the agreement forged between Kojo Duah and the Republic, he sought a reduced sentence of 10 years for the crime of manslaughter instead of the more severe charge of murder.
However, upon his conviction, Justice Marie-Louise Simmons handed down a stern judgment, sentencing him to a total of 20 years behind bars for each count of manslaughter. Nevertheless, the court stipulated that these sentences are to be served concurrently, meaning that Kojo Duah will ultimately serve a single 20-year term of imprisonment.
On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, lawyers of Kojo Duah, Augustines Obour notified the Court of the agreements his client had with the state to plead guilty to manslaughter instead of murder.
“My Lady, we humbly pray to plead guilty to a lesser offence under Section 239 of Act 30 (1960) as agreed with the Prosecution,” Counsel told the Court.
He added that, “subject to the convenience of the court we are ready to do it today (October 31).”
“My prayer is in respect of A1-Eric Kojo Duah, (Counsel reads out to the Court) we are ready to plead not guilty to the offence of murder but guilty of offfence to manslaughter as agreed by the Prosecution,” Augustines Obour told the Court.
“We have done this with the Prosecution and we have agreed on the sentence of ten (10) years accordingly. We pray humbly,” Counsel submitted.
Nana Ama Prempeh, Senior State Attorney for her part told the Court, that the accused had approached the prosecution but they were not aver with the request.
“My Lady respectfully, we have been approached by counsel for the A1 to consider the change of his client’s plea to that of a guilty plea to manslaughter. We are not averse to this request,” Nana Ama Prempeh told the Court.
After the prosecution’s and the accused’s attorneys presented their cases, Justice Simmons asked the accused to elaborate. Eric Kojo Duah was entered into a plea deal on two charges of murder; nevertheless, he entered a guilty plea on two counts of manslaughter. Consequently, the first accused was found guilty of manslaughter under Section 239 (2) of Act 30 by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons.
Background
In 2019, Eric Duah gained significant attention in both local and international media outlets due to his audacious act of fatally shooting two Ghanaian police officers who were carrying out their motor traffic duties on the road at Budumburam, a suburb of Kasoa.
An individual who witnessed the entire incident shared their account of what transpired between Eric and the officers on that ill-fated day.
According to the eyewitness, when the police officer approached Eric, who was driving an unregistered blue or black Toyota Camry vehicle, with the intention of apprehending him, the officer resorted to physical violence by slapping Eric across the face.
In response, Eric purportedly feigned the need to retrieve money from his car, but instead retrieved a firearm and discharged it at the police officer. During a radio interview on Thursday morning, the eyewitness recounted that the injured police officer sought refuge by fleeing towards a nearby grocery shop, where the eyewitness and two other individuals were present.
Despite his profuse bleeding, the officer allegedly implored the eyewitnesses to seek shelter, and they complied by concealing themselves behind a refrigerator in the grocery shop. The eyewitness further revealed that Eric entered the shop and commanded them to vacate the premises, following which he fired another shot at the wounded police officer.
