75-yr-old man wrongfully jailed for murder freed after 33 years

A 75-year-old man, Emmanuel Tetteh has been finally released after thirty-three years after he was wrongfully imprisoned.

Mr. Tetteh was jailed together with other two ‘accomplices’.

One of his accomplices, Grumah was also innocent of the crime that Tengey (who was the main suspect) named.

“I was tortured by police officers at gunpoint to name my accomplices whom I did not have. I could not withstand it so initially, the name that came to my mind was Tetteh. The beatings did not stop so I mentioned Gruma’s name too as another accomplice. They arrested him too and they arraigned us before court. I regret my actions and I ask for forgiveness,” he pleaded.

Though Tetteh and Grumah heavily protested that they knew nothing about the case, they were still sentenced to death with Tengey after police investigations.

In an interview with Tetteh, Grumah died out of shock after three months in prison.

Tetteh said his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

In an interview with Tengey and Tetteh some four years ago at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, Tengey confessed that his so-called accomplices knew nothing about the murder case.

He said he deliberately named them with the hope that he will be spared the torture he was being subjected to.

After spending thirty-three years in prison, Tetteh has been freed through presidential pardon but unfortunately without compensation.

Mr. Tetteh’s sad story did not end after his release as his best friend back in the village in the Western Region has taken over his household and married his wife with whom they now have four children.

He said his wife, when she heard of his return jilted her new husband to come back to him.

“When I was released, I went to the village. Many people thought I was dead so it was difficult for them to believe it was me. They thought I was a ghost. It was after five days, my wife heard I had returned. I did not bother to see her because of what she did. However, she came to see me and I forgave her,”

Background to the story

Mr. Tengey said he was hired by a neighbor to work for him on a payment term.

He claimed the neighbor did not pay him for ten months and when he demanded what was due him, the neighbor attacked him with a broken bottle.

“I worked for him in his house and did any other job he wanted me to do for him. After ten months, he sacked me without paying me and when I went to ask for my money he rather attacked me with a broken bottle with which he injured me. There was no nearby police station to report the issue so I could not let go,” he said.

Mr. Tengey said three months later, he met his neighbor whom he had worked for on his way to his farm. He said he demanded his money and a misunderstanding ensued between them.

He said during the altercation, he butchered his neighbor with the machete he was holding resulting in his untimely death.

“I was arrested the following day after the incident. At the police station, I was subjected to severe torture, which I could not withstand. The police officers pointed a gun at my head amid the torture to mention the name of my accomplice. I committed the crime alone but they insisted that I did it with somebody. I only saw Tetteh when he came to visit the man I had worked for to collect a refund of his money. His name came to my mind so I mentioned it to them,” he recounted.

Tetteh, Tengey, and Grumah who was later named as an accomplice were sentenced to death by hanging in 1988.

By Rudolph Nandi