Three persons have been put before a Circuit Court in Kumasi for illegally registering a 93-year-old social club in their names in the Ashanti regional capital which has the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as its Life Patron.
Known as the Kumasi Club, the social club, which has been in existence since 1927, was originally called the European Club and drew its membership from Europeans and a few Ghanaian elite, until 1962 when it changed to allow all nationalities to join.
Charges
The accused persons, Norman Owusu-Barnie, 74, described as a human resource practitioner; Charles Asabere, 30, an administrator, and Kwame Brenya, 67, a spare parts dealer, are facing four counts of conspiracy to defraud, defrauding by false pretences, deceiving a public officer and attempting to steal.
Their pleas were not taken when they appeared in court on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.
The court, presided over by Justice Ali Baba, a justice of the High Court with additional responsibility as circuit court judge, granted them bail with two sureties each to reappear on June 10, 2020.
Whistle blower
According to the police, the Kumasi Club is open to all nationals and owned by all members of the club.
The complainant in the case is the chairman of the club.
The police said two of the accused persons, Kwame Brenya and Norman Owusu Barnie, are members of the board of trustees of the club, with the third accused Charles Asabere, an administrator of the club.
On October 21, 2019, the Manhyia Divisional Police Command had information from a whistle blower that some members of the club had gone to register the club in their names at the Registrar of Companies notwithstanding the fact that the club has the Asantehene as the life patron.
Investigations
The police consequently began investigations into the matter with invitations to the accused persons to the Manhyia Divisional Police.
The police said the Chief of Staff of the Manhyia Palace, Mr Kofi Badu, was invited and during investigation, it came to light that the Asantehene is the life patron on the club.
The complainant then requested for a police report on the case. On receiving the report, the complainant reported that the accused persons were not entitled to and did not have the authority to register the club in their names and allot shares to themselves.
The complainant, therefore, called for action to be taken against them.
The police wrote an official letter to the Director of Registrar of Companies to give detailed information on the registration of the club.
The report received indicated that the accused persons on May 9, 2019, agreed, acted together, went to the Registrar of Companies and presented themselves as the board of directors of the club.
Upon such a representation, they succeeded in deceiving the director of the Registrar General’s Department to register the club in their names.
The accused persons were subsequently invited to report to the police station but they failed.
Subsequently, criminal summons were prepared and served on them to appear before the Circuit Court 4 in Kumasi.
