It has been revealed that a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who is on trial for kidnapping his wife attempted to persuade a witness to change his statement to the police.
Isaac Offei Aduamah, the teaching assistant who was the first witness called by state prosecutors, was the besieged lecturer’s subordinate.
Dr Wilberforce Nkrumah Aggrey has been held in custody since his arrest on allegations of kidnapping and fraud of a public officer on October 6, 2021.
The teaching assistant told the court on August 30, 2021, that the embattled lecturer had a dress rehearsal with him on what he should say to the police in his statement, which he declined.
Isaac Offei Aduamah refuted Dr Aggrey’s prior assertions that he slept in his residence with his children on the day his wife went missing last year in court on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
According to the witness, he and two other teaching assistants named Michael and Ababio slept with the lecturer’s children in their hostel on August 30, 2021, the day the lecturer’s wife, Mrs Rhodaline Amoah-Darko, went missing.
The instructor did not show them a snake he supposedly killed in a polythene bag until the next day when they sent the kids to the lecturer’s house to prepare them for school.
Dr Aggrey then went out to buy anti-snake repellent with Ababio, one of the teaching assistants.
When the witness returned from Accra to Kumasi to prepare his statement, Dr Aggrey gave him a picture of the statement he and another teaching assistant had made to the police.
He went on to say that the lecturer insisted on him memorizing the statement to avoid discrepancies, which he disregarded.
According to Isaac Aduamah, the first accused individual vetted a statement he made and tried to influence his testimony, but he ignored him and gave a statement based on how events happened.
Dr Wilberforce Nkrumah Aggrey, the first accused, stayed silent and observed the proceedings while attempting to glance in the direction of his former teaching assistant, who avoided eye contact with him.
Lawyers for Dr Wilberforce Aggrey claimed throughout cross-examination that the witness’s statement was false and not a truthful depiction of facts.
Because he was overwhelmed, the witness indicated he may have forgotten the sequence of events.
The hearing has been rescheduled for May 25, 2022.
