Rumor Mill of Friday, 11 November 2005

Source: Weekend Crusading Guide

Joojo Smears Shirt With Hen Blood

A source close to Jooj Bruce Quansah, the editor of the ?Ghana Palaver? has told the ?Weekend Crusading Guide? that Mr Quansah has confided in him that he (Quansah) smeared his shirt with the blood of a fowl he killed in his house to fake an attack on him. The source said Jojo told him that he panicked when he realized he was on the verge of losing his house which would go under the gavel on November 25, 2005 if he is unable to raise ?400 million being a judgement fine slapped on the ?Ghana Palaver?, for defaming Mr George Kufuor.

He (Joojo) therefore, last Tuesday in desperation killed the only chicken (layer) on the compound; he had slated for the dining table, come December 25, 2005, and smeared the blood all over his shirt to fake an attack on him. After which, he dashed out to a neighbour?s house to complain that he had been attacked by some assailants. The source said Joojo said he gave Kwamena Ahwoi?s cell phone number to the neighbour whom he named as Christie. He then asked Christie to ring Kwame Ahwoi to narrate his plight. Mr Ahwoi on receiving the news also dashed to the police and reported that Quansah had been attacked resulting in his shirt being stained with his blood. However, he could not be found.

According to Ahwoi the news of Quansah?s attack was conveyed to him by his (Quansah?s) sister-in-law called Christy, who did not have a cell phone or a land line and had called from a communication center at Abofo near Achimota. However, reports reveal that Mr Ahwoi subsequently went back to the police to revise his statement to the phone. This time, Ahwoi told the police that it was rather water that was poured on Quansah but not that his shirt was soaked with blood. He also said that the supposed sister-in-law of Quansah called from a phone booth but not a communication centre. Mr Quansah after coming out of his hideout told the police that he was beaten up by some assailants who dumped him in a pool.

A forensic expert The Weekend Crusading Guide talked to said, he suspected that Mr Ahwoi decided to go back to revise his story/statement to the police because it might have dawned on him that a forensic test conducted on the blood-stained shirt would reveal that the blood belonged to that of a chicken but not Mr Quansah.

According to him, the change of the location from where Christy, the supposed Quansah?s sister-in-law made the call from to Mr Ahwoi could stem from the fact that, Mr Ahwoi realized that if the call had come from a communication center, it would easily have been located from investigation and the supposed Christy also subjected to questioning by the police. Mr Quansah in an interview with an Accra based radio station yesterday, said he met the supposed Christy in a taxi when he was running away from his assailants. According to him, he obtained a pen from the taxi driver and gave Mr Ahwoi?s number to the lady to call and communicate what had happened to him, to anybody who received the call. According to him, he did not report his ordeal to the Kasoa police because his assailants had covered their faces with hood.