Prosecution to reopen case in Ya-Na murder trial

THE prosecution in the Ya-Na’s murder trial will tomorrow move a motion to reopen the case, one month after closing its case.
A Principal State Attorney, Mr Rexford Wiredu, who is leading the prosecution, and Mr Philip Addison, lead counsel for the accused persons, were present in court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ms Gertrude Aikins, announced in court on November 29, 2010 that the prosecution was to call five more witnesses to testify.
The lead prosecutor, Mr Wiredu, had, however, closed the case for the prosecution on November 5, 2010, after which Mr Atta Akyea, one of the lawyers for the 15 persons accused of murdering the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, had declared the defence team’s intention to make a submission of ‘no case’.
Twelve witnesses have so far testified for the prosecution.
The accused persons are Iddrisu Iddi, alias Mbadugu; Alhaji Baba Abdulai, alias Zohe; Kwame Alhassan, alias Achiri; Mohammed Abdulai, alias Samasama; Sayibu Mohammed; Alhassan Braima and Zakaria Yakubu, alias Zakaria Forest, who is currently on the run.
The rest are Mohammed Habib Tijani, the former District Chief Executive of Yendi; Baba Ibrahim, alias Baba Zey; Alhassan Mohammed, alias Mohammed Cheampon; Mohammed Mustapha; Shani Imoro; Yakubu Yusif, alias Leftee; Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif, alias Nyaa Dagbani.
All the accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu, have been charged with conspiracy to murder and have pleaded not guilty to the charge. Zakaria has been charged with murder.