On May 15, 1996, Nana Kwasi Agyemang, popularly known as Gemann, was sentenced to death for murdering a taxi driver, while his friend, Abeiku Nyame, also known as Jagger Pee, received a life sentence for abetting the crime.
Gemann, a popular musician and entertainment personality, was found guilty of murdering a taxi driver named Kwasi Adjei.
The incident happened sometime in 1995 at Dome, a suburb of Accra. His close friend, Abeiku Nyame, also known as Jagger Pee, a popular actor at the time, was with him in the courtroom that day.
The courtroom was filled with people, relatives, and friends who had all come to hear the final judgment in the high-profile case.
According to a newspaper clipping, the trial had been long, but on this day, the case ended. The judge, Justice RK Apaloo, gave the jury two hours to go over all the evidence again. Then, after two more hours of deliberation, the seven-member jury returned with their verdict.
They found Gemann guilty of murder, and Jagger Pee guilty of abetment, which means helping someone commit a crime.
Justice Apaloo sentenced Gemann to death, the punishment for murder in Ghana at the time. But when it came to Jagger Pee, the judge explained that Jagger Pee had only followed Gemann blindly, like a fan who looks up to a star, and because of that, he gave him life imprisonment instead of death.
People burst into tears, while some couldn’t believe what they were hearing. As prison officers walked the two men out in handcuffs and into waiting vehicles, the atmosphere was heavy with pain and regret, the report added.
Jagger Pee was given a chance to speak before he was taken away.
With tears rolling down his face, he said in Twi;
“I have told the court all that happened. I have told the court the truth, but if the truth cannot set me free, then I don’t know what the truth can do.”
As for Gemann, he was seen reading his Bible throughout the trial and appeared nervous as the jurors announced their decision.
Some said he kept staring at them, silently hoping they would believe his story, that it was all an accident and not intentional to take the life of the taxi driver.
But it was too late. The law had spoken, the report said.
Both men were given 30 days to appeal the sentence. Jagger Pee’s lawyer, Owusu-Fordjour, immediately said he would file an appeal to try and save his client from spending the rest of his life in prison.
See the newspaper clipping below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
