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A lawyer with the Western Region Office of the Legal Aid Commission, Ebo Donkor, has expressed the Commission’s readiness to lead efforts at appealing the sentence of 29-year-old Joana Krah Akos, who was on Tuesday, October 26 jailed for faking her kidnapping.

He opines that the six-year jail sentence for the culprit is harsh.

“When we heard of the sentencing, we thought the punishment was on the high side and shouldn’t have been so,” he said.

Joana Krah Akos was jailed six years by the Michael Ampadu Circuit Court in Takoradi on two counts of deceiving a public officer and publication of false news.

His Honour Michael Ampadu, in passing his sentence, said Takoradi is becoming synonymous with kidnapping and was worried that majority of the cases have turned out to be false.

He explained that Joana’s case is to, among other reasons, serve as a deterrent.

Reacting to the sentencing on the Wednesday edition of Connect FM’s morning show Omanbapa, Ebo Donkor admitted that cases of fake kidnapping is tarnishing the image of Sekondi-Takoradi.

But he argued that “in passing a sentence, the law requires that one looks at the aggravating and mitigating factors”.

“If you look at the lady in question, she is 29 years old, she has one child who is 3 years old. Again, when she came to court, she did not waste its time. She herself confessed to the prank. So, if you consider these, we think there ought to have been a somewhat lighter sentence.

“Therefore, we are using your medium, Connect FM, to reach out to the family of Joana to contact us or come to our office so we see what we can do to help the situation.”

Meanwhile, a good number of residents of Sekondi-Takoradi appear to agree with the six-year jail sentence.

They agree with the Presiding Judge’s observation that cases of fake kidnapping are tarnishing the image of Sekondi-Takoradi and therefore something must be done for “such jokes to stop”.

The residents are convinced that Joana’s case could see an end to the stories of fake kidnapping in Sekondi-Takoradi.