By Beatrice Oppong and Priscilla Owusu Ansah
A Circuit Court in Accra has directed the State to file its witness statements on or before the next hearing of the trial of Bishop Elisha Salifu Amoako of the Alive Chapel International and his wife Mouha Amoako and one Linda Bonsu Bempah.
Assistant State Attorney Yaw Acquah informed the court that the prosecution has filed the first batch of disclosures but has yet to file the witness statements. Bishop Salifu Amoako and Mouha Amoako are parents of the sixteen-year-old boy who allegedly rammed a jaguar vehicle into another car which caused the death of two girls at East Legon in Accra last October 12.
They have been arraigned together with Linda Bempah, an employee of the family before the Circuit Court on one count each of permitting an unlicensed person to drive. The facts before the court indicate that on Saturday, October 12, 2024, the family was celebrating the 25th birthday of another son when Linda gave the key of the said vehicle to the juvenile knowing very well that he was a minor and did not have a driver’s licence.
The juvenile allegedly drove the said vehicle with his friend Prince Tijani towards the Bawaleshie direction on the Dzanie Ashie street in East Legon. On reaching a section of the road at Mensah Wood Avenue junction, he drove into the rear of an Acura 4×4 vehicle. The impact propelled both vehicles across the road into a fence wall of a nearby house. The two vehicles caught fire and got burnt beyond recognition.
Two occupants of the Acura vehicle Justine Agbenu and Maame Dwomoh Boateng, both 12 years old, were trapped in the vehicle and died from the fire. The parents are reported to have admitted during investigations that they allow their son to drive to the gym, within their neighbourhood and to other places. The three accused persons will reappear before the Court on November 28, 2024.
Meanwhile, the juvenile who allegedly caused the accident also appeared before the Juvenile Court and will reappear on November 20, 2024.
