THE Ho High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Kofi Essel Mensah, has sentenced a 43-year-old farmer to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for manslaughter.
The convict, Foster Awume Nudziekpor, who has been on remand since 2003, pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted on his own plea.
Two others, Richard Nudziekpor, 35, and Emmanuel Midawo Gagadosu, 46, both farmers, pleaded not guilty to the charge of manslaughter and have been granted bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 each with one surety to reappear on May 10, 2010.
According to the prosecution, Andrews Yegbe, now deceased, and the three accused persons were relatives resident at Akatsi Anyiheme in the Akatsi District.
There developed a land dispute among them, during which the accused persons and the convict suspected that the deceased had sold their family land without their consent.
On September 7, 2003, Yegbe erected some concrete pillars on the site and left for a funeral at a nearby town, Fatsagbleve.
On his return about 7 p.m., he heard that the three relatives had gone to the site to remove the pillars.
He confronted them at the site and a quarrel ensued, during which the deceased was alleged to have pulled out a locally manufactured pistol and shot Richard in the stomach.
Richard was rushed to the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho for treatment.
According to the prosecution, Yegbe was overpowered and his throat slashed in the process with a knife.
Awume admitted slashing Yegbe’s throat in self-defence, while the two others ran away during the scuffle, paving the way for his charge to be changed from murder to manslaughter.
The sentence is to take retrospective effect from 2003 when Awume was placed in custody.
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