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Some consider it harsh, the punishment meted out to the 36-year-old man, who confessed to a court that he harbours plans of assassinating President Mahama.  

Charles Antwi is to serve 10 years in prison and this was a punishment slapped on him by an Accra Circuit Court after he was sited wielding a locally manufactured pistol at the Ringway Gospel Centre Assemblies of God- the same place President Mahama worships.

But a psychologist with the Achimota Government Hospital, Hannah Oye Afriyie tells Peace FM that the court should have first taken the man to a nearby mental hospital before prosecuting him.

She explained that in such cases, the first thing the state should have considered after arresting him was to conduct a full psychological assessment on him.  

On Tuesday, an Accra Circuit Court charged him with unlawful possession of firearm.

In court, he revealed that a military personnel directed him to the President’s church at Ringway. According to him, he had gone to the church to kill the president but the president was not in church on that day.  He added that on a single occasion that the President showed up in church he (Antwi) did not have a gun.

In his confession, the convict said he was fed up with the “dumsor” situation and had gone to Libya prior to attempting the assassination on the President.

He said he felt cheated by the President Mahama following the death of Prof Atta Mills since he believed he (Antwi) was supposed to be the next president of Ghana.

He told the court that the day he was picked up was the fourth time he had gone to the church to launch his attack but on the three occasions, the president was not present.

But from the mental health experts’ point of view, Hannah Oye Afriyie believes Charles might be suffering from delusion of grandeur.

Grandiose delusions she claims makes a mentally ill patient feel he or she is superbly healthy, exceptionally intelligent, or extraordinarily talented and does reflect in their behaviour.

She claims such patients could go to an extent of saying that they are responsible for the death of Christ and other presidents.

“When I first got to know that he (Charles) says that he is going to kill President Mahama and become the next president, I became convinced he is suffering from some form of mental illness”, she said.