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Senegal election delay ruled unlawful

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The decision to postpone this month’s elections in Senegal is against the country’s constitution, the country’s top court has ruled.

The Constitutional Court annulled President Macky Sall’s decree and a contentious bill passed by parliament moving the vote to December.

Widespread protests have gripped the West African country, once considered a bastion of democracy in the region.

Opposition figures said it amounted to an “institutional coup”.

Mr Sall had announced he was pushing the election back because of what he claimed were concerns over the eligibility of opposition candidates.

His proposal had been backed by 105 out of the 165 MPs. A six-month postponement was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, or 15 December.

Mr Sall had reiterated that he was not planning to run for office again. But his critics accused him of either trying to cling on to power or unfairly influencing whoever succeeds him.

Opposition candidates and lawmakers, who had filed a number of legal challenges to the bill, will likely feel vindicated by the court’s decision on Thursday evening.

Khalifa Sall, a leading opponent and a former mayor of the capital Dakar, who is not related to the president, had called the delay a “constitutional coup” while Thierno Alassane Sall, another candidate, also no relation, called it “high treason”.

The court said it was “impossible” for the election to be held on the originally intended date of 25 February – just 10 days time – but urged authorities to organise it “as soon as possible”.

Most candidates have not been campaigning since President Sall issued his 3 February decree, hours before campaigns were meant to kick off.

The court decision comes on the same day as several opposition politicians and civil society members were released from prison, in what some in the country viewed as a move to appease public opinion.

Senegal had long been seen as one of the most stable democracies in the region. It is the only country in mainland West Africa that has never had a military coup. It has had three largely peaceful handovers of power and until earlier this month had never delayed a presidential election.

President Sall has been in power since 2012, with his second term in office due to end this April.

Senegalese President Macky Sall, arrives for the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 19, 2023.

President Sall was accused by critics of trying to cling to power

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Crime

Drama in court over stolen goats

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There was drama at an Accra Circuit Court when two out of three accused persons admitted stealing goats at Teshie Camp Two area in Accra. 

Emmanuel Agyei, aka Obama, a fisherman and David Agyei, a borehole driller, pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy and stealing. 

The accused persons, said it was true that they had been stealing goats and that on August 8, 2024, they stole locally bred goats within the vicinity, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) reports. 

The police is holding them for allegedly stealing nine foreign goats from Germany valued at $13,500 belonging to one Seidu Yakubu, the complainant in the case. 

Emmanuel Agyei told the court that: “The goat I stole doesn’t belong to the complainant. I have not seen the kind of goats the police are talking about. I have shown the complainant and the places where I stole the goats. I don’t know anything about the kind of goats the police are talking about in the pictures taken.” 

In the case of David Agyei, he told the court that, “We did not steal from the complainant, the goats we stole were African breed. We are not the group of people who sell to the buyer.” 

The court, after listening to the accused persons, convicted them but deferred their sentence to September 2, 2024. 

Baba Musah, aka Baba Talatu, a butcher, who pleaded not guilty to the charge of dishonestly receiving, has also been remanded into police custody. 

The police said three accomplices, whose names were given as Nat, Aapah, Boola Gee, were at large. 

The prosecution, led by Superintendent of Police Augustine Yirenkyi, said the police were searching for other accomplices on the run. 

The prosecution said the complainant, Yakubu Seidu, was a driver and an animal farmer at Teshie Camp 2. 

The court heard that on Sunday, August 11, 2024, at about 0400 hours, the complainant woke up and detected the theft of nine of his foreign-breed goats. 

On the same day, the prosecution said the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID) received intelligence about a syndicate that snatched victims’ cars and used them to steal goats, and hide at Teshie and James Town. 

The prosecution said the PID mounted surveillance and arrested Emmanuel Agyei, David Agyei and Baba Musah, but the other accomplices managed to escape. 

During interrogation, Emmanuel and David admitted the offence and told the Police that they used to steal and sell.  

Emmanuel and David led the Police to Boola Gee’s house at James Town, where four sheep and two goats were found in a blue-black 2002 model Honda CRV with registration number GN 438-14 and a blue-black Nissan Altima with registration number GT3107-18.  

Emmanuel and David admitted to the Police that they stole with one Nathaniel and Aapah and sold the livestock to Boola Gee. 

The court was told that Baba Musah admitted having bought five goats from Emmanuel, David and Nathaniel at GH₵2,500. 

On August 12, 2024, the prosecution said the complainant came to the Directorate and identified two goats as his. 

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Crime

Police destroy large quantity of narcotics by court order

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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has destroyed a significant quantity of narcotic substances following orders from the Accra Circuit Court.

The items destroyed included 248 fertilizer sacks, 315 wraps, 24 sachets, and 68 compressed slabs of various narcotics, along with three medium-sized buckets of heroin.

“We are here to destroy some substances; cocaine, dry leaves thus cannabis, after those cases have been dealt with by the court,” Registrar at the Accra Circuit Court Prosper Kingsley Damakah revealed to journalists

The substances were seized and used as evidence in cases tried by the circuit court between 2020 and 2024.

“Some of the cases started in 2020. The people were arrested by the Police, charged and brought to court. Judgments have been delivered in the cases’ Mr. Damakah clarified.

The burning of the narcotics was carried out at the shore behind the Black Star Square in Accra and was witnessed by representatives from the Narcotics Control Commission and the Judicial Service.

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Crime

4 remanded in Tumu for alleged robbery of MoMo vendor

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The Tumu Magistrate Court in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region has remanded four individuals in custody on charges of allegedly robbing a mobile money vendor.

The suspects have been under police surveillance in Tumu due to a series of robberies targeting commuters in the Sissala East Municipality. 

Their arrest was the result of an investigation into an attack on the mobile money vendor.

The suspects, Sumaila Tembieru (a mechanic), Hamidu Muniru (a farmer), Sumaila Issahaku (also a mechanic), and Salifu Abu (a farmer), were apprehended on July 19 following thorough police investigations in Tumu related to a robbery in the Kong community. 

The mobile money vendor was deprived of his cash and two mobile phones during the incident.

At the Tumu Magistrate Court, Sissala East Municipal Police Commander Superintendent Kumpe Dieku Gbele reported that on June 17, around 9:30 PM, three armed individuals stormed the mobile shop, discharged firearms, and stole GH¢25,000 from the owner. 

The victim, Voguworun Gadafi, who also trades in agrochemicals, recognised Hamidu Muniru, who had visited the shop earlier that day. 

A police report led to Muniru’s arrest, who subsequently identified his three co-conspirators.

Presiding Judge Frederick Kaar Tiem ordered the four suspects to be held in police custody until their next court appearance on July 29.

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