"A 20-year-old unemployed, Baffour Awuah, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison with hard labour by a Kumasi Circuit Court for robbing a man of his mobile phone worth GH¢40 and GH¢70 cash."

Mr. Sam Duodu on his news comment; "Good news from Ghana! on May 3, wrote,

"I was outraged, despite knowing about this increasing social nuisance, when I read that a circuit judge in Kumasi had sentenced someone to forty-five years imprisonment for stealing the mobile phone of another person. The story read: QUOTE ‘An ex-convict, Baffour Awuah has been sent back to prison by a Kumasi Circuit Court to serve a 45-year jail term in (sic) hard labour for robbery’."

Mr Duodu, on the case of the guy who was sent to jail for 45 years, he did not steal a mobile phone but he robbed the victim of a mobile phone and seventy cedis . There is a difference between STEALING and ROBBERY. When somebody is not looking and you take their wallet or a purse, that is STEALING, on the other hand when you use a weapon like a gun or knife to threaten somebody to hand over their property or you will kill or harm them, that is ROBBERY and at that point, it doesn't matter whether it is one cedi or million cedis, the crime has become a more serious one called ARMED ROBBERY and the punishment for armed robbery can range from 15 years to life imprisonment depending on the history of the person who has committed the crime. You referred to this Baffour as an ex-convict, that means he is a habitual criminal and I have no sympathy for him. He was lucky he was not beaten to death. A lot of people have been killed for pick pocketing.

What is strange to me is that, all these people complaining about this judge haven sent this young man to 45 years in prison would not have complained if he had received mob justice in Ghana by way of lynching. My wish is that, lawyers in this forum like Dr. SAS and others will sometimes have time to explain to laymen of the law in this forum what mitigating circumstances compel Judges in these situations to impose such sentences. Another forumer on April 27th responded to me when I wrote that the guy did not just steal a phone but committed an armed robbery with knife said,

Author: JOE Date: 2014-04-27 16:43:03

Comment to: PULLING OF KNIFE SEALED HIS FATE

I don't care if he pulled an AK 47 the face remains that his sentence was way too harsh."

I hope this guy will maintain the same attitude when he goes through a night of horror with these armed robbers after his wife and daughters get raped by armed robbers.

Another case that received a lot of ink time was the cassava thief.

"Yaw Nkrumah, 28, Akokoaso based farmer in the Akyemansa District, has appeared in court for stealing cassava valued GHc500 belonging to a colleague farmer.Nkrumah pleaded guilty to stealing and the presiding judge of the circuit court at Akim Swedru, Mr Yaw Atta Sampong, sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment in hard labour."

In the case of the 28 year old cassava thief sent to prison for ten years, I don't see why people were so outraged. It is not like a hungry man stealing two or three tubers of cassava to eat but stealing five hundred(500) cedis worth of cassava to sell deserve that sentence since this man has been to prison before.In our villages with poor farmers, five hundred cedis worth of cassava might be what this poor farmer might earn for the whole year for his labour and it is justice to me for the Judge to impose such a sentence as a deterrent to other would be cassava thieves.

A twenty year old armed robber is more dangerous than a middle aged man in their nocturnal armed robbery expeditions and this Awuah Baffour axiomatically would not hesitate to pot a bullet in your head when he confronts you at night in your house and demand from you to hand your valuables.The same Ghanaians condemning these Judges, I will repeat here will be the same people who would have applauded a mob if they have killed these criminals by way of lynching.

I am sometimes baffled by the behavior of our citizens. They get outraged about issues they should not be outraged about and lack of outrageousness when you expect it. Why are people not outrage about these SADA thieves who have been caught and are returning millions of cedis they stole but will not face any prosecution for stealing? Agambire and other SADA Officials have been asked to return the money they stole in exchange for promise not to send them to prison and that is ridiculous and people should be outrage and demand from this government to prosecute and send them to prison instead of getting bent out of shape about Judges who are just interpreting the law as laid down by our legislature.

If these pen thieves can get a slap on the hand to return what they have stolen without any punishment, can we do the same to purse and phone snatchers to return their booty when caught without any prison sentence and this is where the voters come in.

The Elite, educated and people with political connections are the ones getting away with 'murder' because they have the Parliamentarians who make laws in their pockets and these same Parliamentarians make the laws that will favour them in future and that is why punishment for what they call 'white color' crimes that these politicians and the elite in society commits have sweetheart punishments. Ghanaians should watch who they vote for and demand equal justice or the poor will continue to get the short end of the stick.

Voters and citizens should be outraged with those that make the laws and determine punishment for them(PARLIAMENTARIANS) and leave the Judges who are just there to interpret the law and implement what is stipulated. The Judges in most cases have their hands tied because they don't have the power to give light sentences even if they want.

Justice Sarpong

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)