KWAW KESSE BACK TO PRISON

Kwaw Kesse being driven to the Prison

A popular hiplife musician, Emmanuel Botchwey, affectionately called Kwaw Kesse, has been refused bail by a Kumasi Circuit Court. 

The Court, presided over by William Boampong, cited Sections of the Amended PNDC Law, Act 714 to justify his refusal of the bail application by the legal Counsel of Kwaw Kesse, Nana Akwasi Boaitey. 


Subsequently, the Court renewed the remand of the music star for another two weeks to appear again before it on 22^nd December, 2014. 



At the heavily patronized hearing at the KMA Circuit Court in Kumasi today, a number of popular musicians showed up in solidarity with their embattled colleague. Among them were Evangelist Lord Kainya, Guru, Edem and Tic Tac.


 The Police came into the Court auditorium at about 9am with sober looking Kwaw Kesse sporting dreadlocks in a white shirt under a grey coat in a handcuff. 


When the case was called, the Presiding Judge read his ruling on a bail application by the defence Counsel on the maiden appearance. 


According to Mr. Boampong, even though the Criminal Law and PNDC Laws did not capture suspected cases of narcotics as part of the non-bailable offence, Section 76 sub-Section Seven of the Amended Criminal Law, Act 714 has made such offences as non-bailable. 


For this reason, he, he was incapable of granting the accused the bail request. 


Notwithstanding the position of the presiding judge, Nana Akwasi Boaitey argued that once the prosecution had not been able to prove the reality of the substance his client was smoking, Kwaw Kesse is being held on mere assumption that what he is said to be smoking at the time of the arrest is just speculation. 


This, he argued that if the Court held against his client would amount to a compromise of Kwaw Kesse's freedom and a travesty of justice saying that the refusal of the bail application could also set a serious and dangerous precedence since the Police, in future, could arrest and place in detention anybody with any substance no well that a charge of dealing in narcotics is a non-bailable offence. 


But the presiding Judge would not take any of that as a reason to grant the musician bail. 


Kwaw Kesse was arrested by the Police in Kumasi on 22^nd November at the +2 Wine Shop, a popular Pub at Nhyiaeso in Kumasi for allegedly smoking a substance believed to be Canabis, without any lawful authority contrary to the laws of Ghana.