‘Forgive me’ – A fake informant in a murder case of Ghana’s ruling party official gets six months jail term
Nana Bassaw, popularly known as ‘Born Black’ is to spend the next six months in jail for deceiving the Ghana police in a murder case involving an official of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NPP treasurer Mark Ofori was murdered in early October 2019 in his house alongside a security man at Fijai in the port and oil city of Takoradi. His family has placed a Ghc 50,000 bounty for anyone who will help find the killer of their relative.
Bassaw has also been fined GH₵3,000 ($700) for deceiving the Takoradi Police. He will serve another six months if he is unable to pay the fine. ‘Born Black’ had lied to the police leading to the arrest of one Anthony Mensah whom he claimed was the lead suspect behind the shooting. He pleaded for mercy and mitigation for lying to the police.
“My Lord, I have kids and my wife is deceased. I, therefore, plead with the court for mercy and mother Ghana to forgive me,” he said.
He is also to sign a bond of good behavior for two years or in default serve two years imprisonment before the commencement of the then-current offense.
Her honor Abigail Anima Asare in her ruling said the court looked at what was the likely consequences of his action of wrongly accusing somebody.
She said: “By sentencing the accused person, the court took into consideration the punishment that would have meted to the victim Anthony Mensah in case he was not able to defend himself. The court delivered this sentence to deter the general public from wrong accusation.”
The fake informant is said to have caused the arrest of Mensah after picking up a fight with him days before where the suspect destroyed his phone – hence the reason he framed Anthony up for the murder allegations.
After the arrest of Anthony, the fake informant reportedly managed to get Anthony’s family to buy him his phone and then proceeded to tell the police that he was misled and misinformed by another lady.
Meanwhile, the deceased family is appealing to the public to help arrest the culprits.
Delix Ofori, sister of the deceased, appealed to the police to get to the bottom of the case and pursue the killers.
“We don’t know who did this to him, but we pray all those behind this will be revealed. All we are fighting and praying for is justice because he (Mark Ofori) was full of life. He was everything to us and the family. We are asking the security agencies to help us find the perpetrators of this crime,” she said.
Source: Daily Mail GH
