The Weija District Court is set to sit on the case involving the murder of a National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) officer today, January 20, 2025.
This comes after the hearing was adjourned due to the absence of the sitting judge, who was on leave on November 28.
A new judge has been assigned to preside over the case.
Six individuals – James Kofi Obosu, Nana Ama Amissah, Joseph Kobina Ansah, Robert Gardiner, John Eric Kofi Turkson, and Clement Kwesi Owusu – are facing charges related to the murder.
The accused persons are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, murder, and use of offensive weapons, contrary to sections 23(1), 46, and 70 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The alleged offenses were committed on December 7, 2019, at Mankessim in the Central Region.
Background
In 2019, an officer with the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), formerly Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and one other were killed in chieftaincy clashes at Mankessim in the Central Region.
Six (6) others, including a police inspector and a police investigator, sustained various degrees of injuries.
The rivals to the Mankessim stool attempted to install a new queen mother, but the other faction got wind of the plot, leading to clashes.
Mankessim Dispute
The Mankessim chieftaincy dispute is over two decades old.
The clashes come in the wake of many legal battles involving the two factions. In 2010, there was a motion filed by one Abeka Kuntu and two others at the Swedru High Court.
The suit sought to restrain the chief, Osagyefo Amanfo Adu VI, and the Queen Mother, Nana Amba Amissah III from holding themselves as such.
In an affidavit, the claimants said the chief and the Queen Mother were not the rightful occupants of the stools.
They contend they are not descendants of Oburmankoma, Odapagyan, and Oson, their leaders who led them from Techiman in the Brong East Region to their present settlement at Mankessim.
There have been several attempts to settle the matter before the judicial committee of the Central Regional House of Chiefs.
