‘Accra Commando’ slapped in traffic case: Judge suggests out of court settlement

The Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mr. Samuel Bright Acquah, has suggested an out of court settlement between the Greater Accra Minister, Henry Quartey, popularly known as Accra Commando, and a 61-year-old pensioner who allegedly slapped him in traffic.

Mr. Acquah made the suggestion in open court for the Minister to try an out of court settlement yesterday, before adjourning the case to September 26, 2023.

The case was adjourned for the prosecution, led by DSP Evans Kesse, to present his first prosecution witness.

DSP Kesse has indicated that three witnesses would be testifying, and they are Minister Henry Quartey, his Dispatch Rider and the Investigator in the case.

Nii Odoi Kwao II, alias Robert Koomson, 61, and a retired Computer Programmer, allegedly attacked the Minister in traffic, at Osu, a suburb of Accra.

Nii Odoi Kwao II has been charged with causing road obstruction, threat of death, assault on a public officer, and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace.

The 61-year-old pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and is currently on bail.

The Facts

According to the Prosecuting Officer, the complainant in the case was a police officer stationed at VVIP and attached to the Greater Accra Regional Minister as his Dispatch Rider, while the accused is a retired Computer Programmer who lives at Osu in Accra.

He said on December 8, 2022, at about 1:10pm, Mr. Quartey, together with his security detail, were visiting Osu, and on reaching a section of the road, he observed that the accused had blocked it with his Kia Bongo car, preventing the Minister and others from accessing the road.

The court was informed that the complainant signalled the accused to give him and other road users way, but he refused and retorted that nobody could access the road unless he finished with what he was doing.

“The action of the accused person created a heavy traffic jam on that stretch of the road. Based on that, the Honourable Minister decided to advise the accused to move his car from the road, but the accused person ignored the Regional Minister,” the court was told.

The accused, according to the prosecution, rather became violent and threatened that if the Regional Minister got closer to him (Nii Odoi Kwao II) he would kill him (Mr. Quartey).

In addition to the threat, the accused resorted to using offensive words on the Minister, including a claim that he was a thief and had stolen state money, but he was moving freely.

The Prosecutor, in describing the sequence of events, said the accused later abandoned the vehicle in the middle of the road, locked it, removed the ignition key, kept it in his pocket, rushed on the Regional Minister and slapped him.

It was at this instance that the security detail of the Regional Minister, who the court suggested should be changed, moved in swiftly to arrest the accused person and handed him over to the Regional Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Accra.

The accused allegedly admitted to the offence in his caution statement during investigations and was accordingly charged with the offences and brought before the court for trial.