Man freed after 35 years on remand for manslaughter

It was a very pathetic scene at the Ankaful Prison Cape Coast in the

Central Region when a man who was accused of manslaughter and put on

remands for 35 years was finally set free.

Moro Zuta, it was revealed, had spent the 35 years in four prisons

namely Nsawam, Kumasi, Winneba and Ankaful.

This came to light when POS Foundation, a human right organization

with the Centre for Law and Development Policy at GIMPA Law School

took its 'Access to Jus­tice for Remand Prisoners' programme to

Ankaful and Winneba Prisons.

The programme was initi­ated to reduce remand prison­er's population

in the country as well as work around reforms to address the issue in

enhancing criminal ajustice sys­tem.

The Access to Justice Proj­ect seeks to reduce overcrowd­ing in

prisons by setting up special courts to adjudicate remand prisoner

cases in prisons ­throughout the country, with the support of the

judici­ary, office of the Attorney Gen­eral, the Ghana Prisons Service

and the Ghana Bar Associa­tion.

Kuta, is said to be suffering from men­tal diseases.

When Kuta was asked about the number of children that he has, he

disclosed that "I have 200 hundred children made up of 100 girls and

100 boys, a situation which brought tears to the people who were

around.

The judge, therefore, dis­charged him.

In all, three judges; Justice Constance K. Hometowu, Justice Abdullah

Iddrisu and Justice C.J. Honyenuga presided over the 56 cases at

Ankaful and Winneba Prisons.

Daily Guide observed that 31 cases were held at Win­neba, while 25

were held at Ankaful.

Thirty-two remand prisoners were granted bail, 11 were dis­charged,

while 13 had their applications refused, and all the cases held were

charges of murder and manslaughter.

Addressing the press after the programme, the Executive Director of

POS Foundation disclosed that this year's project was expanding its

scope to cover prisoners in Ashanti, Western and Central regions.

He noted that one-third of Ghana's prison population consist of

prisoners who were detained while awaiting trial.

The Executive Director pointed out that reports indicate that 31.5

percent of the prison population is in pretrial status, while

detainees serve more time in detention await­ing trail than the actual

sen­tence for the crime requires, a person who is arrested or detained

but has not received trial within a reasonable period is entitled to

unconditional release or release subject to conditions necessary for

reappearance for judicial proceedings.