Kan Dapaah's Watchman Testifies In Robbery Case

The watchman in the residence of Albert Kan Dapaah, onetime chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament and former MP for Afiagya Sekyere West in the Ashanti Region, Adamu Isaaka, who was with his boss on the night he was robbed, gave evidence at an Accra Circuit Court, on Friday. The witness gave evidence in a court presided over by Francis Obiri and said the robbery took place while the MP�s children were in their room. Aaron Appau, trader; Gator Joseph, aluminium fabricator; Gabriel Donkor and Kofi Rabbi, mobile phone sellers are being tried for allegedly robbing the MP of $1000, GH�500 and other valuables including a laptop. In his examination-in-chief, led by Principal State Attorney Rexford Wiredu, he said on October 26, 2012 the MP was returning home from work at about 11:30pm when he blew the horn of his vehicle to announce his arrival. He said just as he opened the gate for him to enter the house, three armed and masked men entered the house and ordered him to lie down. According to him, the tallest of the three shot the front tyre of the MP�s car and ordered him out of the car to lie down, after which they shot at the windscreen. Explaining further, he stated that the one wielding the cutlass asked Mr Kan Dapaah, a former Minister in the Kufuor administration to give them all the money he had on him and he did as ordered. Furthermore, he said the suspects consequently marched his boss to the master bedroom and later returned with the MP, adding that he had no idea what happened in there. The watchman said they opened the briefcase and took away the laptop and asked him who else was staying in the house with the MP apart from him. The witness answered that he was the only one in the house. Adamu said the MP�s children were in the room at the time but he could not disclose that to the robbers as he did not know what they could do to them. Under cross-examination by K. Gyamfi, counsel for Appau asked how long the incident lasted, and the witness said it took between 20 and 30 minutes. The witness admitted he could not recognize the suspects because they were masked but said he realised that one was the tallest of the three. When asked how he managed to see who the tallest was, when he had earlier said he was ordered to lie down, the witness said he was able to observe the suspects even when he was lying prostrate. Earlier, the MP, in his cross-examination, described the stolen laptop which had been sold by the alleged robbers. He said the laptop had been used for about a year but looked fairly new. The MP also said the brand was Hewlett-Packard and the colour was silver even though he admitted that there were no inscriptions on the laptop which specifically pointed to it as his. The case has been adjourned to October 23, 2013. Appau, Donkor and Gabriel were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and robbery but they denied any wrongdoing. Their alleged accomplice, Rabbi, was charged with dishonestly receiving and he pleaded not guilty. Narrating events leading to the arrest of the accused persons, the prosecuting officer, DSP Reindorf Agyemang, told the court that Mr Kan Dapaah was the Chairman of PAC and lives at Dansoman Sahara. He said Appau lives at Taboara and Donkor lives at North Kaneshie, while Joseph lives at Ablekuma adding that Rabbi lives at Kwame Nkrumah Circle. According to him, on September 25, 2012 at about 11:41pm, the complainant arrived home in his Toyota Land Cruiser Prado vehicle with registration number GW 2726-12 and his driver opened the gate for him to drive in. He noted that just as he drove in and his watchman, Adamu Issaka, was about to close the gate, three young men armed with guns attacked the watchman and the complainant at gunpoint. The prosecutor said the suspects shot at the back right and left tyres of the vehicle before they searched the chairman and his watchman and proceeded to his room upstairs where they took $1000, GH�500, a mini HP laptop, Samsung Galaxy mobile phone, a pistol with 25 rounds of ammunition and some jewelleries. The DSP noted that they afterwards fled the scene. A report was then made to the police, leading to the arrest of the accused persons. The police officer noted that on October 12, 2012 police intelligence led to the arrest of Joseph who denied involvement in the crime, but mentioned Tetteh Attoquaye and Aaron as those who conducted the operation. He was consequently arrested. Joseph, the prosecutor noted, took them to the house of Donkor, the sponsor of the robberies who also received booties from such operations. The police officer stated that Donkor admitted he received the laptop which he sold to Rabbi at GH�700. He said Rabbi also admitted buying the laptop from Donkor but stated that he had sold it to someone he was yet to identify to the police.