Pooley’s Death: Police Officer Granted Bail, Baffour Awuah’s Bail Conditions Reviewed
The second accused person, Agyemang Duah Owusu, has been granted bail in the first case of the death of Francis Yaw Frimpong (Nana Pooley) at the Sunyani District Court heard on Monday, February 17.
Agyemang Duah, 42, an employee of the Ghana Police Service, was granted GH₵300,000 bail with two sureties without justification and ordered to submit his passport to the court registrar within three days.
The presiding judge, His Worship Eric Daning, also ordered the suspect to report to the police station near his official duty post for onward relay to the prosecution team at the Bono Regional Police Headquarters in Sunyani.
Agyemang Duah Owusu was arrested on February 3, 2025, together with Ignatius Baffour Awuah, 58, and Kyeremeh Joseph, 32, by the Ghana Police Service in connection with the violent disturbances that occurred on the 2nd of February 2025 at Nana Kromansah Park at Twumasikrom near Nsoatre, in the Bono Region, during a Ghana Premier League match between Nsoatreman FC and Kumasi Asante Kotoko leading to the death of Nana Pooley.
When they appeared in court on February 4, 2025, only Baffour Awuah and Kyeremeh Joseph were granted bail.
On their second appearance on February 17, 2025, upon a motion filed by one of the lawyers of the suspects, Moses Kofi Obah, who argued, among other things, that the prosecutors have named another suspect in their charge sheet, named Briamah, who is at large, as the one who “internationally and willfully caused the death of the deceased”, prayed the court to grant Agyemang Duah bail, which was subsequently granted.
The former Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, was the leader of the lawyers representing the suspects.
At the hearing on Monday, February 17, the bail conditions for Baffour Awuah and Kyeremeh Joseph were reviewed, save the court holding their passports, such that they will now report once a week only (instead of every day) to the prosecutors and can now travel outside of the Sunyani Municipality without seeking the leave of the court.
They are all to reappear on March 10, 2025.
Before the case was called at 10.45 am, the former Minister for Employment, Labour Relations, and Pensions and former Sunyani West MP, Ignatius Baffour Awauh was spotted at the court premises wearing long sleeves African print with jeans trousers and a pair of sandals, occasionally with both hands in his pockets, chatting with friends, relatives, and party members, including for former Sunyani East MP, Akwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh. He appeared very calm before, during and after the court hearing.
Meanwhile, in the second case heard at the same court, also in connection with the death of Nana Pooley, three other suspects – Isaac Fosu, 28, Yeboah Augustine, 35, and Yaw Koshy, were refused bail despite the plea of their lawyers that they were not a flight risk and would be available anytime without interfering in the ongoing investigations. They will reappear in court on March 3, 2025.
In all, the Ghana Police Service has arrested eight people in connection with Nana Pooley’s death.
So far, five of the suspects, including Elizabeth Akosua Ntiwa (Akosua Black Chinese), 37, and Yaa Asantewaa, 37, have been granted bail, with the remaining three still in police custody.
Communications Director for Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Samuel Sarfo Duku, Esq, who was in court watching brief for the complainant, George Adongo, and a representative of the club as an interested party, said though the court has the powers to grant bail, he was not happy with the Attorney General offices’ failure to oppose the bail application filed by suspect Agyemang Duah Owusu’s lawyers.
“I think that they should have opposed the motion, but they didn’t do it”, he said.
