Gov’t ‘refuses’ to compensate bursar jailed wrongly for 15 years

Jailed 15 years for defiling a twelve-year-old girl, Charles Twumasi is yet to be compensated three years after his release.

A bursar at Children’s World International School at Darkuman in Accra until his imprisonment, had spent seven years in prison already when he was found innocent. His dreams have been shattered.

After his release, the young man could not bear the hardship he faced and opened up to Crime Check Foundation (CCF) to solicit support.

 “I roam construction sites to carry concrete to survive,” he told crimecheckghana.org.

After applying for compensation from government since his release, he said the state is yet to respond.

“I haven’t heard anything since I applied for compensation and I do not know what to do,” he complained.

Charles Twumasi was initially sentenced to 10 years but another 5 years were added when he appealed his sentence.

The pained man, knowing he was innocent, gathered further shreds of evidence and appealed the sentence again. This time, he said he won but had already spent 7 years in jail.

Twumasi, who is a father of one, said he lost his baby’s mother to another man due to his imprisonment.

He said his life is in jeopardy as he awaits government’s compensation.

Twumasi gives his facts

According to Twumasi, his office was an open one, which was caught in between classrooms where anybody could easily look into the office. Therefore, it was not possible that he could have defiled the girl in his office during school hours as she claimed and nobody saw them.

Also, the ‘victim’, her mother, and her father gave conflicting accounts.

Twumasi said the girl named him and a teacher called Nash. Nash, he said bolted and never returned to the school.

 Further, the former bursar stated that the narration he gave in court was misrepresented. He said that when he asked for the audio recording of court proceedings, he was told the recording machine had crushed.

Twumasi suspects that the girl’s father schemed to get him jailed. He said the girl’s mother used to invite him over to eat. Though he rejected most of the requests, he could stay over talking about personal issues with the woman till evening on the few occasions he honored her invites. He indicates that the woman’s husband might have been jealous of that.

Finally, he claims he was confidently informed that the supposed victim was already pregnant when she accused him of defiling her.

Charles Twumasi is pleading with the general public to assist him get back on his feet.