<<Print>>

A young lady at Dadiesoaba in the Asutifi south district of the Brong Ahafo Region, has told TV3 the 36-year old man jailed for attempting to assassinate President Mahama, proposed love to her and gave her two cedis to prepare a meal. The lady's account on Charles Antwi, somewhat gives credence to the evidence so far emerging that the man who confessed he wanted to kill the President, could be mentally derailed. Charles' relatives have all confirmed he has had mental issues which once led to him being deported from Italy to Ghana. The man, who was arrested at an Assemblies of God church where the President worships in Accra, with a fully loaded gun, was jailed 10 years in a trial that lasted for just an hour, two days after his arrest. Human Rights activists and lawyers have since questioned the correctness of the incarceration particularly when he was even not represented by any counsel and had pleaded not guilty. But the Judge in his ruling said Charles clearly exhibited through his own confession, that he was sane and that his action was premeditated. There has since been a back and forth about whether or not the judge erred in jailing a mentally derailed person who clearly needed help. Many have questioned why the prosecution failed to carry out a thorough check of his mental condition since his utterances gave clues that he may be unstable mentally. Among the many who spoke to TV3's Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Evans Nkum, at Dadiesoaba where the convict hails from, is a young lady who claims Charles once proposed love to her and exhibited signs of a mentally-challenged person. Woman speaks of her encounter with Charles Antwi " I was at home when he came and said he loved me very much; so I told him if that was the case, then he should come home and meet my parents. But he said he couldn't come home. He said he wanted to eat something so I told him to give me money to cook for him. He dipped his hand into his pocket and gave me 2 cedis. Then intermittently, he came around and asked me to go home with him. Then I told him how could he be asking me to go home with him just a day after he proposed to me. Then he said if I don't go with him, he will take back the 2 cedis he gave to me. The next morning when he saw me, it was like everything he said the previous day had suddenly disappeared. When he saw me, he did not even bring up the discussion and even ignored me" the lady recounted. Some taxi drivers at the terminal where Charles once worked as a taxi driver, also gave clues confirming his mental status. "When he came here, we thought that he was mentally stable; but we later realized otherwise. Some drivers had complained that he was overspeeding with passengers. Surprisingly; when I called him to question him about why he was overspeeding, he told me that with a taxicab; if you speed between 140 and 160 kilometers it doesn't constitute over speeding" a local station chairman recounted. Charles Antwi's family are appealing for a review of the sentencing.