The husband of the slain Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) boss, Mrs Josephine Asante, has entreated the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to kick-start the stalled investigation into the murder of his wife.
Mr Kwame Asante, in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, expressed shock at the seemingly disinterest by the police in the investigation of the murder.
On Sunday January 13, 2019, Mrs Josephine Asante, then Public Affairs and Marketing Manager of the GPHA at the Tema Port, was found dead in her home at Emefs Hillview Estates, near Afienya in the Ningo Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region.
According to Mr Asante, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, since assumption of office, had demonstrated enough courage in the discharge of his duties, which had endeared him to all and sundry.
He went on that circumstances surrounding his wife’s gruesome murder when he was overseas, and the abysmal investigation, was depressive, but with the new IGP’s emergence, coupled with renewed energy among the personnel, he was hopeful that the personnel, without hindrance from any position, would this time around chalk success.
According to him, it appeared there were unseen hands impeding the course of the investigation into the case.
It would be recalled that police at Afienya and Tema, whose Crime Scene Management Team was at the scene, got hold of vital evidence needed to establish a case. The police in Tema made that information available to the media, and after bringing it into public domain, the headquarters in Accra called for the docket.
A few days later, Police Headquarters issued a statement to debunk the claim of landing sufficient evidence as announced by the Tema Regional Command. Two persons, the houseboy and Mrs Asante’s official driver, were detained, put before court, and later granted bail.
The docket on the case has since been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office for advice.
In the course of the investigation, the police quizzed a number of persons, both in and outside the country.
However, the deceased lady’s family sources, who preferred anonymity, hinted that further investigation by the police landed on two persons, one of whom had escaped from the jurisdiction, and the other with a permanent address outside the country.
The sources intimated that the police, at this juncture, expressed interest to link up with International Police (Interpol) for the suspect to be brought down, which never happened.
To heighten the suspicion of the murder allegedly being a cold case, officialdom in various public discussions treated it as written off.
First was the National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah, who, in February 2021, appeared before the Parliamentary Vetting Committee, and in an answer to a question posed him, stated that the only high profile unsolved murder was that of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale of Tiger Eye fame.
This gave the family cause to worry, since in all their interactions with the police, they were assured of smooth inquisitions into the murder.
Unfortunately, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Godfred Dame, in an engagement with the Speaker of Parliament, named unsolved high profile cases, and, again, that of Mrs Asante was absent.
