Six Ghanaians, including three soldiers, were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on Wednesday January 24 for their involvement in an alleged plot to overthrow the country’s government three years ago.
Nine men had been arrested in 2021 while testing weapons at a former shooting range in Accra. Intelligence wiretaps had led to a forge where the accused had ordered weapons to be made, according to court documents. Charged with conspiracy to commit treason, they all pleaded “not guilty during the trial”.
Six were sentenced to death, while three were acquitted: former police chief Benjamin Agordzo, a colonel and another junior officer. “We give glory to God. He alone succeeded. They knew it was a lie. Our God does not fail. I have always been free in my heart and I knew how this would end,” the former police officer told the press, visibly relieved after his acquittal.
Ghana’s Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who led the prosecution, hailed the outcome of the trial. “This is an important judgment because the constitution of Ghana ensures the stability of the nation and seriously reprimands any attempt to overthrow a government and that is why this offence (treason) is punishable by death,” said Mr. Dame after the trial.
According to court documents, the convicts had been arrested in Accra, the capital, in possession of locally manufactured weapons, Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), AK-47 rifles and ammunition. The Attorney General stated that the defendants belonged to an association called Take Action Ghana (TAG) and that they had planned to organize demonstrations to overthrow the government.
This is the first trial for treason in Ghana since 1963, when the first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown. The last time a death row prisoner was executed in Ghana was in 1992, when the country returned to constitutional rule.