Tabloid News of Saturday, 30 August 2003

Source: Spectator

Prisoner Accuses President

One of the beneficiaries of the President’s recent amnesty granted amnesty to over 2000 prisoners on this year’s Republic Day on July 1, has blamed the President of depriving him of his prison life.

“I felt so angry and sad that the President included me on the list of the prisoners who were to gain their prison”, said the prisoner, Yaw Sando, also known as Ginger.

He made this remark at an Accra Circuit Court. Yaw was in court for stealing a car belonging to Sadiya Mohammed, wife of Mohammed Gargo, the Italy based Ghanaian International footballer.

He was arrested on Wednesday, August 13, on the Spintex road, barely 44 days after being granted amnesty.

The court has therefore sentenced him to seven years imprisonment and told him to go where he belongs.

Immediately, he descended from the dock, Yaw Santo said “in prison we are free, no one pays electricity nor water bills. No landlord also bothers you with rent and at least we enjoy free meals without giving chop money as everything is free”.

“Life outside prison is very hard with no job to do even after one is released from prison”, Sando added.

The court had been told that Sando and his colleague, known only as Adjogoli followed Sadiya Mohammed who was driving on the Accra-Tema motorway on that fateful day. The car developed a mechanical fault at about 10 am, so she parked off the road and hired another car back to Accra to pick a mechanic to repair it.

However, on her arrival an hour later, the car was nowhere to be found. She lodged a complaint with the Police Panthers Unit, who mounted a search for it. At about 2 pm the same day, the Police spotted Sando and Adjogoli driving the car on the Spintex road. They chased them until Sando stopped the car. He attempted to escape but was arrested. Adjogoli however managed to escape.