Story of the 21-year-old student convicted for robbery and facing murder charges

In this era of Free Senior High School, it is the expectation of every parent to see his or her ward progressing to tertiary institutions after leaving Senior High School.

This is because of the elimination of school fees since 2017.

Senior high school education in Ghana is no longer a luxury and preserve for the privileged few in society, but an opportunity opened to every Ghanaian child who has successfully gone through the basic education.

Most parents are now able to plan ahead for the tertiary education of their wards, which should ideally motivate students to climb the academic ladder with much ease following the laudable intervention coupled with the fact that access to student loans no longer requires guarantors.

The other side

It is, however, worrying that after all the policy interventions to improve access to education, some students continue to engage in nefarious activities that eventually derail their academic progression.

A classic example is a 21-year-old senior high school leaver who has been convicted 15 years for his involvement in a robbery case and also facing murder charges in another case for allegedly stabbing a student to death over his girlfriend.

Pious Osei Kankam, who recently completed Konongo Odumase Senior School, according to the Konongo Police, led a group of young boys to rob a woman at Bomireso near Konongo.

Having known the woman for many years and familiar with her daily routine, Kankam provided his accomplices all the information as they robbed their victim on August 17, 2021, at about 2300 hours.

Kankam is said to be a friend to the family of the victim as he spends most part of his day at the shop of the victim.

The victim who owns a shop just in front of her house had just closed the shop and entered the house when she was accosted by the three accomplices of Kankam who were wielding knives and scissors.

According to a charge sheet sighted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the three succeeded in robbing the victim of GH¢1,000.00 cash, a television set, two laptops, and two mobile phones.

The prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Princeton Peasah Darkwah told the Juaso Circuit Court that the three managed to escape with their booty, but luck eluded Kankam who was spotted by the daughter of the victim at the scene and informed her mother.

She raised alarm and with the help of neighbours, Kankam was arrested and handed over to the Konongo Police and was subsequently arraigned and convicted by the Court presided over by Nana Asantewaa Attakorah.

For a young boy, whose future was on the verge of being derailed during the trial for the robbery case, one would have thought he would regret his actions and stay out of trouble as he waited for the court’s decision.

Kankam would, however, stab a student of Ejisu Senior High School for sitting close to his girlfriend at a birthday party at Dwease, while he was on bail during the trial of the robbery case.

The victim who was first rushed to the Konongo-Odumase Government Hospital died later at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, where he was referred.

So even before his fate was decided in the robbery case, he was arrested again and arraigned before the Konongo District Court, where he was remanded pending investigations.

Detective Darkwah who is also prosecuting the murder case told the court that Kankam had gone to a birthday party with his girlfriend on December 26, last year, at about 2100 hours.

While sitting around a table, the deceased joined them and sat next to his girlfriend, but Kankam asked him to vacate the seat because it had been reserved for another person.

The deceased refused to leave, leading to a confrontation between the two and in the ensuing scuffle, he stabbed the deceased in the abdomen and chest, attracting other revelers to the scene.

With the help of the people around, the deceased who bled profusely was rushed to the hospital, but could not make it as doctors pronounced him dead on arrival at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital.

Kankam who escaped from the crime scene in the heat of the chaos was later arrested at his hideout after the uncle of the deceased lodged a formal complaint to the police.

So in a space of four months, a 21-year-old who should be focusing on how to gain admission into a tertiary institution was rather involved in two high profile cases.

His actions did not only truamatise a woman he had known for many years, but also aborted the future of a young boy full of life for no justifiable cause.

Even though his plea is yet to be taken by the Court as the prosecution awaits the advice from the Attorney General Department, Kankam possibly faces a long-term imprisonment, if not death sentence.

By Yussif Ibrahim

Source: GNA