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Lawyers acting on behalf of Richard Eshun, who claims to be the rightful occupant of a property at No. 6 Agostino Neto Road within the Airport Residential Area, have written to the Regional Commander of the Ghana Police Service to petition for the consolidation of investigations regarding unlawful execution, theft, and unlawful damage to the property.
In the letter dated April 6, 2023, the lawyers recounted the facts of the case, starting from March 24, 2023, when a bailiff of the High Court at Tema, accompanied by some Policemen from the Regional Police Department, for the first time, served a Writ of Possession on Eshun.
Mr Eshun’s lawyers filed an Application for Stay of Execution at the Tema High Court and brought it to the attention of the bailiff and the police.
However, on March 29, a team of policemen led by Inspector Ayittey from the Regional Police Service, attended Mr Eshun’s property to arrest him on the basis that he threatened Richard Koomson, the counterparty, with a pistol.
Mr Eshun was kept in custody until his lawyers attended the Police Station to plead for his bail. Upon interrogation, and a search conducted at his house, the police realized that Eshun’s gun was licensed and not a pistol but a pump action.
Around 5 pm on the same day, when Mr Eshun was returning to the property from the Regional Police Headquarters, he saw about ten vigilante men with Anane Daniels breaking into his Property (without any police assistance) (“Suspects”).
They had destroyed the entire roof of the building, broken all doors, and taken away some items, including USD 50,000, Samsung Galaxy S10+, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and Lenovo Thinkpad T43.
Eshun lodged a complaint at Airport Police Station against the suspects, who were later arrested upon returning to the property on April 2, 2023, to cause further damage to the property and belongings of Eshun. Mr Eshun and the suspects were paraded before the Airport District Commander to be interrogated, and they were subsequently granted bail.
Eshun’s lawyers contend that the criminal activities of stealing and unlawful damage to property ought to be prosecuted since they have made available all material evidence to the Airport Police.
They pray that, since the matter originally commenced at the Regional Headquarters, the Regional Command should consolidate the case at the Airport Police Station and Regional Police Station for further investigations to be conducted.
They also plead that, pending the determination of the Application for Stay of Execution and Application for Certiorari to be lodged at the Supreme Court, the status quo ante of the property ought to be maintained by the Police Service.
The lawyers argue that the suspects should be barred from further causing unlawful damage to the property of Eshun. If the suspect believes in the strength of his case, he should wait for Eshun’s application for certiorari and application for stay of execution to be determined by the court, since the application for stay of execution serves as a bar towards execution of the judgment, since no certificate has been issued from the registry of the Tema High Court to prove that execution has been completed.
The burden to establish that execution has been completed rests with the suspect who has failed to present any certificate from the court that execution had already been completed.
The lawyers are seeking the consolidation of the two dockets (Airport Police Station Docket and Regional Police Department Docket) and the prosecution of the suspects.