*WHO KILLED MY MOTHER?* *

- A Woman’s Quest For Justice Ends In “Merry Go Round” With Ghana Police

*

Larry-Alans Dogbey

To Mrs. Sally Agyeman Jacobs, the pursuit of justice for the murder of her mother, Madam Rosemary Owusu Ansah, on October 31, 2007 moments after retiring to bed to rest after her 69th birthday party, should have been easier for the Ghana Police Service.

But the search for the killer/s of her mother is proving elusive to the Ghana Police Service as ever, having failed to solve other mystery murders such as the serial killing, the murder of Roko Frimpong, the murder of ex-CDS, Lt. Gen. J.B. Danqua’s bodyguard in Burma Camp as well as the murder of DSP Stephen A. Donkor, Head of Security of Bank of Ghana in 2006.

However, to Mrs. Sally Agyeman Jacobs, she would continue to walk the corridors of power imploring those wielding enormous influence in society to help have her mother’s killer/s brought to book.

To this end, her next destination is the National Security Secretariat, for a meeting with the Coordinator, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, as the Police CID Homicide Department even under the strictest instructions of the IGP, Mr. Pual Tawiah Quaye, has failed to act on the case.

Madam Rosemary Owusu Ansah had celebrated her 69th birthday with pomp and pageantry. Her birthday party was graced by some NPP heavyweights including K.T. Wilson and Nana Ohene Ntow, friends of her first son, Charles O. Juana/h, but unknown to everybody was a shocking birthday present; death had been planned for her in her McCarthy Hill residence that same night.

The next morning, her beloved daughter, Mrs. Sally Jacobs, who is seeking justice, found the remains of her mother lying gently on her bed, with a burst eyeball, broken jaw, broken wrist, broken shoulder and a smashed face. Blood freely oozed from all openings on her upper body. The killer/s after the act had covered her with a piece of cloth and left through the window as her door was still locked with the key in it.

Indeed, one needs not be an expert in homicide to conclude that this was a gruesome murder, and Mrs. Jacobs and others present realized this. But who did it? And her quest to find answers led her to the Odorkor Police in Accra, but the station did not attach the needed urgency to the case as one Detective Sergeant M.A. Bawa, who was handling the case started playing hanky-panky.

Two weeks after, they arrested the only suspect, Kofi Isaac, a security man with the Intercon Security Company on duty in the house that fateful night, was still in police custody without any attempt to process him for court.

Whilst the housemaid by name Ivy, had told the Police that in the middle of that night she saw a suspicious vehicle lurking around their residence, neighbors insist that for the first time in years, there was no sign of the wild guard dogs in the deceased’s house (which bark upon the least noise in the night).

It was further realized that for the first time, the security guard, Kofi Isaac, strangely chose to feed the dogs in their kennel instead of releasing them to be fed outside as it was done always in the house.

It also emerged that on the morning of the murder, the houseboy, Rahman, woke up and for the first time realized that the wild dogs were already in their kennel even though it has always been his responsibility to put the dogs back in their abode every morning. But Kofi Isaac had again uncharacteristically done that for him and vacated the house before the family woke up.

In another twist to this bizarre incident, the pathologist Dr. Atu-Tarlor of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Department of Pathology, who performed the post-mortem of the decease, gave two conflicting causes of death.

Firstly, he said she died of hypertension which is a natural cause and later when the controversy deepened, he quickly dashed to the Odorkor Police Station, met the Detective Sergeant M.A. Bawa and changed the cause of death to be asphyxia, meaning a lack of oxygen caused by physical blockage of the airway which implies unnatural death. Interestingly he had by this time given out the corpse to Charles O. Juana/h to be taken to a Funeral Home in Lashibi-Accra.

The twist and turns characterizing the horrific murder of Mrs. Owusu-Ansah is preventing sections of the family, led by Mrs. Jacobs, from bringing the case to a closure.

The first point of contact, according to Mrs. Jacobs, was ACP Richmond Nii Boi Bi Boi, then at the Accra Central Police Station, who asked the Odokor Police Commander to send the suspect to court and get him remanded.

The case was then forwarded to the Attorney General’s (A-G) Department for advice. But it was taken too long so hence the then A-G, Mr. Joe Ghartey was also reached, however no definite action was taken and she found herself talking to the ex-Greater Accra Regional Commander of Police, Mr. Opare Addo, who redirected her back to the Odorkor police, citing legal reasons.

All these took months and before she could realize, the 2008 elections came in. A change of government gave her some sense of hope that the murderer/s will now be exposed, and that Kofi Isaac, the Intercon Security guard who fed the dogs in their kennel, locked them up strangely and curiously vacated the house in the morning before the body was discovered holds the key, albeit remotely.

Kofi Isaac, was however, set free by the Court presided over by Justice Senyo Dzamefe with the aid of the A-G‘s Department somewhere last year for want of prosecution because Detective Sergeant Bawa did not investigate the matter well to warrant a murder trial.

Mrs. Jacobs was later led to the Director of Public Prosecution, Ms. Gertrude Aikins, but she was only able to stop the suspect from getting bail. But days later, the same A-G’s office shockingly filed a Nolle prosequi, meaning “unwilling to pursue”, hence discontinued the case and Kofi Isaac, was freed to go home.

Still not satisfied, Mrs. Jacobs petitioned the Attorney General, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, and the case was resurrected with Kofi Isaac rearrested, but her hopes were short-lived as the same Detective Sergeant Bawa, who was doing virtually nothing about the case, was again assigned to deal with it, and days later Kofi Isaac was home and dry again.

Yet another petition was filed again to no less a person than the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye who was quick to order the Deputy Director of CID, Mr. Dogbeda, to investigate the matter but till date no action is taken by him.

According to her, in her presence, Mr. Dogbeda gave the case to Hanson Gove of the CID Homicide Unit, who had interestingly played a role in the botched investigation of the Serial Killings, to deal with but Mr. Gove is yet to move on the case and it appears he will not move at all; a blatant disregard towards the IGP.

With the IGP’s assurances and orders also failing to see the light of day, Mrs. Jacobs is heading to the National Security and hopeful that upon meeting Lt. Col. Gbevlo-Lartey, the Coordinator, her quest for justice would come true.

Sally, a businesswoman and taxpayer like any Ghanaian, says she is expecting the security agencies to put the puzzles together and also search for new clues to unravel the mystery surrounding her mother’s death.

But to her, if a meeting with the Security Capo too does not work, she would resign to her fate of never knowing who killed her mother and for what motive.