Three soldiers and six other individuals were condemned to death by hanging by the Accra High Court for their involvement in a plot to topple the current government. The court was trying nine people for high treason.
They are Lance Air Force Corporal Ali Solomon, Corporal Sylvester Akankpewon, Donya Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Johannes Zikpi, and Warrant Officer Class Two (WOII) Esther Saan Dekuwine.
In the meantime, the accused accomplices, Colonel Samuel Kojo Gameli, Corporal Seidu Abubakar, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr. Benjamin Agordzo, were found not guilty at trial and were released.
The prosecution failed to show beyond a reasonable doubt that they were involved in the attempted plan, according to the three-member Court, which was presided over by Mrs. Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe and comprised Justices of the Court of Appeal Hafisata Amaleboba and Stephen Oppong.
Colonel Gameli and ACP Agordzo were both accused of high treasonous aiding and abetting criminal activity.
They all refuted the charge of conspiracy to commit high treason against Corporal Seidu Abubakar.
It was not established that ACP Dr. Agordzo was a member of TAG’s executive WhatsApp platform, and neither the speech nor its content, which was purportedly handed to Doctor Mac-Palm—the mastermind of the plan who passed away during the trial—were written by him.
The GHC2,000.00 that was donated to the late Dr. Mac-Palm was not used to finance the government’s effort to topple him, but rather to support TAG’s medical mission.
The Court determined that Dr. Agordzo’s references to the “big bang” and “Arab Spring” to the late Mac-Palm were misconstrued and that their purpose was to kickstart something with zeal rather to topple the government.
In Colonel Gameli’s case, the Court was informed that he had admitted to knowing about the activities of the late Mac Palm, and that this had been documented in the police activity diary and on audio recording, both of which were not shown to the Court.
The Court declared after a nearly four-hour sentence delivery that there was no proof the Colonel had confessed to helping to commit the crime.
But Donya Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Johannes Zikpi, Corporal Sylvester Akankpewon, Lance Air Force Corporal Ali Solomon, and Warrant Officer Class Two (WOII) Esther Saan Dekuwine were all found guilty of high treason and given hanging sentences.
The Court found that Debrah had been assigned by the late Dr. Mac-Palm to gather support for the attempted overthrow. He met with his accomplices to plan the acquisition of weapons and to test the locally made weapons manufactured by Kafui.
He also attempted to entice recruits by offering them GHC50,000.00 each in exchange for their participation and provided them with cell phones to facilitate communication.
Additionally, he was recognized from films that the prosecution’s star witness, Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, had taken.
But Donya Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Johannes Zikpi, Corporal Sylvester Akankpewon, Lance Air Force Corporal Ali Solomon, and Warrant Officer Class Two (WOII) Esther Saan Dekuwine were all found guilty of high treason and given hanging sentences.
The Court found that Debrah had been assigned by the late Dr. Mac-Palm to gather support for the attempted overthrow. He met with his accomplices to plan the acquisition of weapons and to test the locally made weapons manufactured by Kafui.
He also attempted to entice recruits by offering them GHC50,000.00 each in exchange for their participation and provided them with cell phones to facilitate communication.
Additionally, he was recognized from films that the prosecution’s star witness, Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, had taken.
He was heard and seen in one of the films questioning how the bombs, which were built by Kafui and characterized by the late Dr. Mac-Palm as improvised explosive devices, would go off on the day that the President, Vice President, Chief of Defense Staff, and other important government officials would be apprehended at a function.
The Court held that, contrary to Debrah’s allegation that they were doing so to support their charitable endeavors, a non-governmental organization like Take Action Ghana (TAG) did not need to buy weapons, hire 20 soldiers, erect roadblocks, or draw on important public spaces in order to assist underprivileged areas.
But Donya Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Johannes Zikpi, Corporal Sylvester Akankpewon, Lance Air Force Corporal Ali Solomon, and Warrant Officer Class Two (WOII) Esther Saan Dekuwine were all found guilty of high treason and given hanging sentences.
The Court found that Debrah had been assigned by the late Dr. Mac-Palm to gather support for the attempted overthrow. He met with his accomplices to plan the acquisition of weapons and to test the locally made weapons manufactured by Kafui.
He also attempted to entice recruits by offering them GHC50,000.00 each in exchange for their participation and provided them with cell phones to facilitate communication.
Additionally, he was recognized from films that the prosecution’s star witness, Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, had taken.
The Court stated that although he took efforts to attempt committing the crime, he plotted with the late Mac-Palm and others, and his defense does not exonerate him.
In Zikpi’s case, the prosecution was unable to establish that he was hired to obtain communication devices in order to disrupt radio and television networks in the event that the scheme was successful, but he was found guilty based only on his own admission of guilt.
Esther did not deny ever attending a meeting to plot the attempted overthrow, which is why the court ruled her guilty.
She asked for unpaid allowances for “the boys,” or recruited soldiers, and she did not dispute her Executive role in TAG. She also knew about the plot and helped to carry it out by recruiting certain men.
The court declared that Esther was exonerated of high treason accusations after the prosecution proved their case.
According to the court, LAC Ali was found guilty of a conspiracy charge but not of high treason because he actively engaged in the meetings, attended them, and was seen and heard in the tapes the prosecution had shown the court.
Sylvester Akankpewon participated in meetings, helped decide which routes to take, how roads would be blocked on D-day, and inquired about participants’ allowances and numbers. As a result, the Court determined that he had given his consent to act in concert with the other participants.
Akankpewon was found not guilty of high treason but found guilty of conspiracy.
Strict security was in place as the prisoners were quickly removed to face punishment.
Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame led the Attorney General’s Detail, which included the Director of Public Prosecution Mrs. Yvonne Attakorah Obuobisa, the Deputy Attorney General Mr. Alfred Tuah, and other others.
According to the court, Mr. Victor Kwadjoga Adawudu neglected to submit his written response by the deadline.
In 2019, after testing locally manufactured firearms built by Kafui following a tip-off, the late Dr. Mac-Palm, Donya Kafui, and Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf—the star witness—were apprehended. They arranged among the group to capture their activities towards achieving the coup plot.
The others were subsequently arrested as a result of this, and the Kaneshie District Court ordered that they appear in court at the High Court as the District Court lacks authority.
The prosecution said that among other things, they had homemade explosive devices, locally manufactured firearms, sketch maps of potential attack locations, and WhatsApp chats pertaining to the scheme.
This is Ghana’s first treason trial, having occurred after the country’s independence in 1966 following the toppling of its first prime minister, the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Because of this, the 1992 Constitution forbids attempts to overthrow the government; those who seek to do so are guilty of treason and face the death penalty.
Although the death sentence has not been used since the 1992 Constitution was adopted, this serves to discourage others from committing similar crimes.