Man Receives Five-Year Prison Term for Fatally Stabbing Cousin a Girl 

Today, February 16, 2024, an Accra High Court has sentenced an unemployed individual to five years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter. Godwin Kotey was convicted for fatally stabbing his cousin in the chest with a screwdriver during a heated argument over a woman near Salaga Market in Accra on November 23, 2020. Presiding over the case, Justice Mrs. Lydia Osei Marfo deemed the proposed five-year sentence reasonable, taking into account the circumstances and the accused’s rights under Article 42(6). The court cited Section 239(2) of Act 30 in its verdict.

Initially facing a murder charge, Kotey’s plea was revised to manslaughter following plea bargaining negotiations between his defense counsel and the Attorney General. Utilizing Section 239(2) of Act 30 to support their plea, both parties agreed to a five-year sentence, as confirmed by the Attorney General’s report. The court subsequently accepted Kotey’s plea on the manslaughter charge.

According to Senior State Attorney Vivian Osei Tutu, Kotey, a married resident near Salaga Market, accused his cousin, the deceased Frederick Nii Oko Sackey, of having an affair with his girlfriend/fiancée, Victoria Sabbah. This accusation escalated into confrontations, with Kotey demanding the return of Sabbah’s belongings, culminating in a fatal altercation on November 23, 2020, where Kotey stabbed Sackey with a screwdriver during an argument at Salaga Market. The pathologist’s report from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital confirmed Sackey’s cause of death as a perforated right ventricle resulting from the chest stab wound. Kotey admitted to the crime in his caution statement.