So Sad As Man Jailed For Bailing A Stranger; Court Takes Over Properties

Kwame Asomani, a 60-year-old man from Agona Bobikuma is serving a twelve-month jail sentence after sacrificing his parcel of land to settle a bail condition for a stranger he met in police cells some months ago.

His account of what transpired between him and the stranger, Osei Yaw Williams, whom he bailed will leave you questioning if anyone could ever be trusted let alone be saved from any situation.

In his account of what caused his imprisonment, Mr. Asomani said he was arrested by officers of the Forestry Commission in his village and was placed in police cells, where he met Yaw Williams. He got to learn about Mr. Williams’ situation as being far more threatening than his.

Yaw Williams according to the old man had been in police cells for over a year. He was granted bail by the court for defrauding some people, but had nothing to satisfy the bail condition. He persuaded Mr. Asomani to assist him to settle the bail, with an assurance of refunding every contribution when he is finally freed from police custody.

Mr. Asomani was granted bail by a relative [Opanyin Takyi] on the fourth day. Yaw Williams was finally released a few days after when Mr. Asomani offered documents of his two plots of land to the Assin Fosu Court to secure his bail.

All that while, Mr. Asomani was indebted to Opanyin Takyi who claimed to have taken a GHC1,000.00 loan from a local trader and had to be refunded. Unknown to Mr. Asomani the intention by his rescuer was to have him settle the debt with the parcel of land he had offered to the court as sureties for Yaw Williams [stranger] bail.

The pressure was mounted on him by Opanyin Takyi, and this matter ended up with the police. Mr. Asomani was arrested, and again Opanyin Takyi offered to take an extra loan to bail him out. His total indebtedness had shot up to GHC3,000.00, and the only means of repaying was to release a plot of the land he had offered to the court as surety for Yaw Williams bail.

All that while, the court was still following up on the matter and had pursued Mr. Williams for months without any success. This compounded the woes of Mr. Asomani as he feared he will lose his property.

He informed Opanyi Takyi and the creditor [a woman] that the parcel of land will theirs as soon as the court releases it to him. But Opanyin Takyi and the creditor were impatient and proceeded to demarcate the land for construction.

The Police were alerted and Mr. Asomani was arrested again. He had breached the law and would have to face the consequences. The young man whom he bailed has absconded, leaving him to suffer the consequences all along.

He shed tears as he narrated his story to Crime Check TV.