The chief of Banka, a farming community in the Asante Akyem South Municipality of the Eastern region has been jailed for three months by an Accra High Court for fraudulently appropriating $150,000 earmarked for developmental works in the community.
The fund, donated by Gold Coast Company in 2010, was expected to be used for developmental projects in the deprived community that lacks basic amenities, including toilet facilities.
The 65-year-old chief, according prosecution, seized the funds and denied his community the needed development.
Delivering the judgement on Tuesday, July 23, the high court judge, Comfort K. Tasiame said she has been lenient in her sentencing because of the chief’s age.
In addition to the three months jail time, Nana Twiampomah III, also known in private life as Frederick Kofi Frimpong, has been fined 2,000 penalty units, or serve an additional five years jail time in default.
A handful of members of the Banka community who showed up in court expressed satisfaction with the judgement. They lamented how the actions of the self-serving chief have deprived the community of “even a toilet facility.”
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