Alleged coup plotters’ weapons were lethal -Witness

A Forensic Scientist at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Richard Kwesi Anaty, has told the Financial and Economic Divisional of the Accra High Court that the ammunitions allegedly retrieved from the alleged coup plotters were lethal and capable of inflicting fatal wounds.

He told the court presided over by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe and two other justices that some of the weapons had been fired.

ASP Anaty told the court, while being led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Yvonne Attakora-Obuobisa to give his evidence in chief yesterday, that part of ammunitions submitted to the CID laboratory for examination were locally manufactured.

The witness also told the court that there were no serial numbers on the guns to determine their country of origin.

According to him, he used one month to examine the exhibit guns that were submitted to the CID laboratory, but added that he did not have the capacity to collect the fingerprints on the weapon, as well as the materials used to manufacture them.

ASP Anaty was testifying in a case involving 10 persons, including senior police and military officer, a medical doctor and civilians, who have been accused of attempting to overthrown the Akufo-Addo government.

The following is how ASP Anaty, seventh prosecution (PW7), gave his evidence:

1. Can you give your full name to the court?
2. My name is ASP Richard Kwesi Anaty.
3. Where do you work?
4. I work with the Forensic Science Laboratory at the CID Headquarters.
5. How long have you been working with the CID?
6. I have been working at the Firearm Examination Unit for the past 24 years. I have been a police officer since 1990.
7. What do you do at the CID Headquarters?
8. I’m a firearm examiner and crime scene analyst.
9. Do you know the accused persons?
10. I know Dr Mac Palm, and I also happened to have worked in La Cote d’Ivoire and with Senior Colonel Gameli, and that was between the years 2009 and 2011
11. Cast your mind back to later part of 2019, did you do any work with any of the accused persons?
12. I conducted an examination on evidence firearms and ammunitions, which I received in my office on October 16, 2019. On the October 17, 2019, I received another package, and the last package came on October 21 of the same year. It was labelled laboratory number 98/2021, 99/2021, 100/2021, and 101/2021. I did the examination and submitted the report.
13. Where did the first request come from?
14. It was from the Director General of CID to the Director of the Forensic Laboratory.
15. What did you do when you got the request?
16. I conducted the examination when I got the packages. Five firearms, that is slap number 98/2021, and slap number 99/2021 that also contained two firearms. The request was that I should determine whether they were firearms and whether they have been discharged and the material that they are made of. I’m speaking off my head.
17. How long did you work on the request?
18. It took almost a month.
19. Who did you work with?
20. I worked with Detective Sergeant Michael Cudjoe, also a firearms examiner.
21. What did you do when you finished?
22. After the examination, I submitted the report of the findings.
23. Take a look and tell the court what you have in your hands?
24. It is a report on laboratory number 98/2019.
25. What is the difference between what you said earlier, thus the 98/2021?
26. To us there is no difference.
27. Can you tell the court whether there is a signature on the report?
28. I have my signature on the report.

DPP: My Lord, I want to tender the firearms examination report.

Court: Does anyone have an objection please?

Counsels: No objection.

Court: Document marked as Exhibit H.

Q: Can you tell the court the main findings of Exhibit H, very briefly?

17. These are five locally manufactured firearms and they were moulded with chamber 9×19 millimetre cartridges. They were not polished. They measured 17.9 centimetres in overall length and weighed around 1408.79 grams. They are all around the same weight. We have given their various specifications in the report. The bores of the exhibit guns were found to contain gunshot residue. And this was an indication that they had not been cleaned since they were last fired. The exhibit weapons were test-fired and they discharged without malfunctioning. Then we concluded that the firearm and their calibre cartridges are lethal and capable of inflicting fatal wounds. We were also asked to determine the material used in manufacturing the weapons, but this was not done because it was beyond our scope.
18. Please, tell the court what you have?
19. I have in my hand the report on a package label…which were two firearms that are locally produced.
20. Who signed it?
21. It was signed by me.
22. What is the date?
23. November 11, 2019.

DPP: We want to tender the document.

Counsels: No objection.

Court: Exhibit marked as Exhibit H1.

1. Mr Anaty, tell the court your conclusion?
2. We concluded that these two firearms are locally manufactured and were also mould in chamber 9x19mm and were also not cleaned since they were last fired. With their calibre cartridges they inflict fatal wounds.
3. You mentioned two other requests you worked?
4. My lord, two sets of ammunition were also worked on.
5. Tell the court what you have.
6. It is a report of the aforementioned.
7. Who signed it?
8. I signed it.

DPP: My Lord, we want to tender it.

Court: Exhibit H3

1. What are the conclusions of your report?
2. My conclusion is that these are two sets of ammunitions and cartridges. Exhibit H2 is made up of 9 pieces of 5.2 mm cartridges. H3 is made up of 63 pieces of 9×19 mm ammunitions. There are 9 pieces of ammunition in H3 which cannot be used in the fireman submitted in the earlier reports, however, the 63 pieces of the 9×19 mm ammunitions are capable of being used in the firearm submitted.
3. Did you do any other work?
4. The only thing we did was to test whether they’re live and can be discharge. And we stated that they are for the possible use for the firearm submitted earlier.

DPP: My Lord, that will be all.

Cross examination by Victor Kojogah Adawudu:

1. ASP Anaty.
2. Yes, my Lord.
3. When guns are manufactured, you will definitely know where it was manufactured?
4. Not definitely.
5. If you say not definitely, what do you mean?
6. I meant to say that guns are manufactured by different people, including criminals. The only indications on gun that can determine its place of manufacture, time or calibre are information embossed on the firearm by the manufacturer or the company that manufactured the gun. When the gun is manufactured by people who will like to seal their identity, you will hardly see the identity. I will like to add that even convensional weapons, polished and well made, sometimes don’t have the identification on them.
7. Normally on the guns too you have serial numbers?
8. That is correct.
9. On Exhibit H, do you have serial numbers on them?
10. We don’t have serial numbers on them.
11. On examining Exhibit H can you tell this court where they were manufactured?
12. I cannot tell where they were manufactured.
13. Also, if you look at Exhibit H, do they have serial numbers on them?
14. They don’t have serial numbers on them.
15. And you can’t also tell where they were manufactured?
16. That is correct.
17. Your observation is that all these guns had been used before the examination. Is that so?
18. That is so.
19. Were you able to take the fingerprint on the guns?
20. We are not able to do that.
21. So ASP Anaty, it presupposed that you cannot tell the person who used these 7 guns?
22. We are unable to tell that.
23. Also, your remarks for Exhibit H and H1 is that you cannot tell the elemental composition of the material used to manufacture this pistol?
24. That is so.
25. ASP Anatey, you signed Exhibits H & H1, is that not so?
26. Yes my Lord.
27. In these Exhibits H and H1, there is nowhere in the exhibits that you stated that you worked with others to arrived at this conclusion?
28. That is true.
29. In doing your work at the laboratory, the year in which the examination is done is very important to the office, is that not so?
30. Yes.
31. So it is not right that when this example is done in 2019 and 2021, you say there’s no significant difference between them?
32. I remembered the DPP asked a question in that direction. When we, for instance, when we say 99/19 it means it 99/2019 of that is what I said, I want to correct it. That is not the issue.
33. You told this court that you also examined the ammunition as captures in Exhibit H2?
34. That is so.
35. Would you tell this court where they were manufactured?
36. They were manufactured by companies that manufacture M16 rifles and other companies that are outside Ghana.
37. And these nine rounds of ammunitions are sold in the market by people or companies is that so?
38. Not in the Ghanaian market.
39. It is your case that you can only get them outside the country?
40. It can only be procured by the military and the other security services. No other person is allowed to even possess them.
41. Is it your case that it is only the military that can have access to the 9 rounds of ammunition?
42. It is only the security services that can have lawful access to these ammunitions.
43. The Ghana Police Service, of which the CID is part of, is one of the security agencies in Ghana?
44. That is true.
45. ASP Anatey, Exhibit H3 is also 63mm rounds of ammunitions?

A: It is 9x19mm.

1. But that was what was submitted?
2. The submission agency mentioned what they know, but after the examination, we corrected it.
3. Can you tell where these 9x19mm cartridges were manufactured?
4. Again, they were manufactured outside Ghana by the companies’ license to do so.
5. These rounds of ammunitions, as captured as Exhibit H3, are they on the Ghanaian market?
6. Exhibit H3 are in the Ghanaian market available to people authorised to purchase or to sell. My knowledge is that people are licensed to possess 9mm calibre weapons, and they have authorisation on the number of rounds they can use.
7. The security agencies also use the ammunitions as captured in Exhibit H3. Is that so?
8. That is so.
9. It is your case that the security agencies can always have access to the ammunitions as captured in Exhibit H3?
10. They have controlled access for their use.
11. The submitting agency, that is the CID, is part of the security agencies. That is a fact?
12. The CID is part of the security agencies.
13. In testing the cartridges, as captures in Exhibit H2, which firearms did you use?
14. With Exhibit H2, what we said was that in examining it, we found them to be live cartridges. And, we also said that it can be used by other guns, per the firearm submitted. We could not test them with the firearms submitted.
15. Do we have serial number on Exhibit H2?
16. …there are no serial numbers.
17. So with the calibre embossed on Exhibit H2, can you trace the source of procurement?
18. My Lord, no.

Counsel: That will be all.