Prof. Benneh Killer Sentenced to 30 years in Prison in Hard Labour

The High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Mary Ekue Yanzu, has sentenced one Ebenezer Kwayisi alias Junior, a Manson trainee, to 30 years in prison, for the murder of University of Ghana law lecturer, Prof Emmanuel Benneh.

The trial Judge, handed down the sentence, after Kwayisi, pleaded guilty to the charge of abetment, after a plea bargain deal with the State under the Plea-Bargaining Act, for a reduced sentence. He is to serve his sentence in hard labour.

Ebenezer Kwayisi, was committed to stand trial in 2021, after the prosecutor told the court that the Office of Attorney General recommended, he should be charged with the murder of the deceased, university professor.

Kwayisi is one of three suspects to have been arrested in connection with the murder of the University of Ghana Law lecturer, Prof Emmanuel Benneh. The other two suspects, that is the prime suspect, James Womba died in police custody in October 2020, while a third suspect, Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah was discharged after an advice from the AG proved he was innocent.

Mr. Kwayisi was charged for abetment of crime, to wit murder. The late Prof. Benneh was found dead in a pool of blood on a corridor leading to his bedroom on September 12, in 2020. His hands were tied behind him with a white rope, and his legs were also tied with a green rope just below the knees, while a cloth was partly inserted into his mouth.

An examination on the body of the deceased revealed multiple marks of assault to his face. The police also found at the scene, a hand glove, a blood-stained white rope and blood stains on the walls. Prosecution said a post mortem examination was conducted on the deceased’s body on September 21, 2021, and the pathologist gave the immediate cause of death as “asphyxiation, strangulation and suspected homicide”.

Ebenezer Kwayisi, whose offense carries a life sentence, was reduced to 30-years in hard labour, following an agreement between him and the state under the plea-bargaining agreement as stated in the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act 1079)