Court releases Dr. Obengfo for "no prosecution"

General News on Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-01-29

Dr. Dominic Kwame Obeng-Andoh, owner of Obengfo Hospital in Weija, who was dragged to an Accra Court of Appeal for operating a health facility without a license and for exercising the practice. medicine without legal authorization, was released.

The court presided over by Mrs. Priscilla Dapaah Mireku revoked it on the grounds of "the absence of prosecution".

According to the Ghana News Agency, the trial judge stated in her ruling that the prosecution had already been ordered by the court to comply with the disclosure rules and to serve Mr. Obengfo or his attorney.

According to the court, at its last sitting, the prosecution promised to serve an accused at the next sitting but did not do so.

"The court said that if the accused did not serve them until January 7, 2019, the accused would be released.

Today is January 23, 2019, and the Crown has still not complied with the orders of this honorable and is praying for more time, "said the court.

According to the court, under section 19 of the 1992 Constitution, "an accused person is presumed innocent until proven innocent or until the accused pleads guilty". .

The court said that if the prosecution was not ready to prosecute, "the accused should not suffer the consequences of his actions", so released Obengfo and scratched the record for lack of prosecution.

"The prosecution can commit the defendants when they are ready to pursue the case," the court added.

The release of Obengfo was followed by defense lawyer Nana Kofi Bekoe, who held the memoir of Dr. Emmanuel Maurice Ankrah, requesting the court to release Obengfo, the case having been adjourned three times in a row for "Same reasons".

Defense counsel asked the court to note that the complainant in the case had been absent each time the case was called.

On January 23 of this year, Inspector Princess Tetteh, who had informed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mawenyo Nanegbe, told the court that she had told him that the police were in the process of prepare materials to serve Obenfo and prayed for a short time.

Obengfo was indicted after the prosecution announced that the two charges would be upheld by the police for the trial to continue.

During its routine monitoring exercise, the Ghana Medical and Dental Council in Accra in July 2015 received information that the accused had not renewed its annual registration approval to be able to exercise the medical profession and operate a private facility since 2013 while still practicing in his hospital.

The Ghana Medical and Dental Council therefore reported the case to the police. On December 28, 2016, the police went to the hospital of the accused to arrest him.

However, the police met him at the time of proceeding to a certain medical procedure on a witness of the case.

After questioning Dr. Obeng-Andoh, the police charged him with appearing in court on February 6, 2017.

The accused, however, seized the Criminal Investigations Department and the judicial process was temporarily interrupted. The case file was forwarded to the Attorney General's Department for opinion.

On May 8, 2018, the Attorney General's Department stated that all charges against Dr. Obeng-Andoh should be upheld.

Meanwhile, Obengfo is facing another trial for murder following the death of Stacy Offie Darko, former deputy director general of the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Program, who visited his medical center in Weija, Accra.

He is in a district court in Accra with his cleaning agent, Edward Amponsah, who is currently incarcerated for identity theft.