The High Court in Accra has discharged Gregory Afoko and Asabke Alangde, who were accused of their involvement in the acid attack that killed former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Adams Mahama in 2015.
Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, presiding over the case, cited the stalled trial and multiple adjournments at the behest of the prosecution as reasons for the discharge.
Afoko and Alangde were facing their third trial for conspiracy to commit murder and murder, following a hung jury in the second trial.
The third trial began last year, in 2024, with the prosecution calling five of their 16 witnesses before stalling on November 24, 2024.
In court on Monday, December 1, 2025, Justice Mrs. Simmons said the accused persons were before the court on a third trial for the offences of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
The Court said after the second trial ended with a hung jury, the accused persons were ordered to be tried again de novo (afresh).
The court said, relying on the earlier Bill of Indictment filed on March 22, 2019, the trial began again last year.
It was the case of the court that on January 18, 2024, the pleas of Afoko and Asabke were taken while jurors were empaneled.
In the third trial, five out of the 16 witnesses the prosecution was to rely on had testified between April 12, 2024, when the trial began, and November 24, 2024, when the fifth witness testified, with 11 more witnesses listed to be called.
Subsequently, the court said the trial had stalled with about six adjournments at the behest of the prosecution.
The court said it had been informed that a decision was to be taken on the case meanwhile, the jurors have been appearing and the “State has been paying or will pay for their allowances.”
On Monday, December 1, 2025, which, according to the court, was “about the seventh or eighth adjournment without any activity, there is no prosecutor present to inform the court about what is happening.”
The court also said five out of seven jurors are present.
In the circumstance, the court said, “I will discharge the accused persons, and the accused persons are accordingly discharged.”
The court also discharged and dissolved the jurors and the court is grateful for their services.
According to EIB Network Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, Afoko was arrested on May 21, 2015, and was discharged on December 1, 2025, which is 10 years and seven months.
Bail terms
On February 21, 2025, Gregory Afoko was granted bail in the sum of GHC500,000 with two sureties, one of whom must have a landed property. He was released subsequently after satisfying his bail conditions, which include reporting to the police every two weeks and the Registrar of the Court must verify the authenticity of any documents presented.
Afoko and his co-defendant, Asabke, who was earlier convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy, were both facing retrial for murder.
Previous trials
Afoko’s previous trial ended in a hung jury, with a 4-3 not guilty verdict in his favor on April 27, 2023.
Brief facts
The brief facts of the case were that on May 14, 2015, Gregory’s brother, Paul Afoko, and Kwabena Agyepong, then national chairman and general secretary, respectively, of the NPP, arrived in Bolgatanga for a meeting. It stated that the deceased organized some thugs to violently attack the two, scuttling the planned meeting at the Azumsofon Guest House, for campaigning against the flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and also not notifying him of the meeting.
The situation, according to the prosecution, was later brought under control by the police, adding that the accused, who was then upset, confronted Mahama but was chased out by thugs.
Another group
It also noted that Gregory and Asabke formed another youth group in their bid to protect persons perceived to be against Nana Akufo-Addo. It said the accused persons held a series of meetings with the youth and on May 20, 2015, they laid ambush at Mahama’s residence with a substance suspected to be acid.
The deceased returned home around 11:10 p.m. in his pick-up vehicle, with registration number NR 761-14, and immediately he parked the vehicle in front of his house, the suspects went close and signalled him to roll down the glass.
The deceased identified the suspects to be party members and rolled down the glass to talk to them. Suddenly, the suspects poured the substance suspected to be acid on his head, face, and other parts of his body and fled on a motorbike.
The deceased started screaming for help, and his wife, Hajia Zenabu Adams, went to his aid and managed to bring him out of the vehicle, the prosecution added.
injuries
According to the prosecution, Mahama’s wife also sustained burns on the right side of her chest and breast while assisting her husband.
It said when she enquired about what had happened to her husband, he told her Gregory and Asabke had attacked him. Mahama died while being airlifted to Accra for treatment.
Gregory, who was later picked up, led the police to Asabke’s father’s house. The police later located Asabke’s house, but he had then absconded with his wife, abandoning their baby in the process.
A post-mortem report on Mahama said he died of shocked lungs and extensive acid burns.
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