How Shaka Zulu Was Jailed

Shaka Zulu, the TV star who was arrested in September 2010 for armed robbery, was last Friday sentenced to a 30-year jail term; but his wife insists her husband is not an armed robber. Meanwhile, News-One can confirm that since Shaka�s arrest some three years ago, almost all the big names in the showbiz fraternity that associated with him, have turned their backs on him. His dear wife Theresa Cotey has been left alone to cater for their two children who are constantly kicked out of school for non-payment of fees. Life has become unbearable for her but she remains faithful to the husband and has explained to NEWS-ONE why she believes her man is innocent. �When he was arrested in 2010, your paper said Shaka went to rob in 2009 because I was pregnant and he wanted money to do the naming ceremony. Our first born is five years and this one with me is just 10 months so there was no way I was pregnant in 2009 for Shaka to have become an armed robber. He himself does not know where this story is coming from and we just want the police to send him to court to clear his name,� a teary Theresa Cotey, wife of Shaka, told NEWS-ONE in the Ga language. She stated further that life had become very difficult for her as a single parent of two children and that her eldest daughter had been thrown out of school because her school fees had not been paid. �How much profit can I get from the oranges I sell by the roadside? I use the same profit to feed the family and also feed my husband in cells. I am not complaining that I am sending him food but I do not have the means.� How Shaka Was Jailed Shaka, whose real name is Richard Kwabena, was one of the fastest rising showbiz personalities before his arrest. He had appeared in several music videos and done TV commercials for several companies and brands. He and three others; Wise Gray alias Biggie, Abass Baba, a trader and Paul Owusu alias School Fees, a draughtsman, were last Friday sentenced by the Court to 30 years imprisonment each for robbery. They were said to have violently robbed a businessman, Clever Omwarihiren, at gunpoint at Baatsona on the Spintex Road in Accra. They reportedly attacked him at gunpoint in his home and took away his five laptops, GH�150, a wristwatch and one of his car keys and sped off with it. Shaka Zulu and his accomplices were found guilty and each handed 15 years for conspiracy to commit crime and 15 years each for robbery, after the trial judge, Justice Charles Quist, said he found them guilty of the offence. The trial judge said Wise Gray had confessed taking part in the robbery with the others and the court found it reasonable to infer that the others did take part in it. Justice Charles Quist said Wise Gray, in his evidence, told the court that Shaka Zulu and the accused persons had contacted and told him to help them to attack the complainant because he had cheated them in a business deal. Furthermore, the judge noted that Gray also stated that after the robbery, they shared some small cash, five laptops and other things they got from the operation among themselves. Justice Quist noted that even though the others were not immediately arrested after the operation, the arrest of Paul with some of the stolen items supported the evidence of Wise Gray. Explaining further, he said the three accused persons denied taking part in the robbery but failed to convince the court that they were innocent of the offence for which they had been arraigned. Clever Omwarihiren, the victim, is a Nigerian businessman resident in Ghana. He said he was robbed at his residence in Baatsona. He told the court he was at home on June 12, 2010 with his wife when he heard a strange sound. According to him, he told his wife to lock all the doors, which she did, but a couple of minutes later, he heard a sound after which four guys, three of whom wore masks, entered the house and took him to the living room. When asked whether he could identify the accused person, he answered in the affirmative and went ahead to identify the forth accused person, Paul, adding that he (Paul) was the one without a mask.