Right this wrong without further delay
It is, indeed, sad that a young man, Mr Eric Asante, who accepted posting to teach in the Northern Region, was offered a raw deal when he was framed up as having defiled one of his pupils and subsequently served 10 long years in jail for a crime he did not commit.
Advertisement
It is, however, heart-warming to learn of his resilience, perseverance and fortitude in fighting for his honour by pursuing the case up to the Supreme Court, whose order for a DNA test to prove the paternity of the supposed product of the crime – the child – had exonerated Mr Asante, as the test results declared his innocence.
Yes, we live in a wicked world and one cannot fathom why the girl’s relations jumped to such hasty conclusion and the courts also subjected Asante to such grave punishment for a crime he did not commit.
Indeed, as the saying goes, the wheels of justice grind slowly, while truth, like a cork, cannot be hidden forever. It will surely come to light one day.
Also, the fact is that there is a thin line between those living outside the walls of a prison and those locked up in there because the possibility of ending up there is really high for everybody.
The case also confirms the fact that we have cases of people being framed up, as a result of which they lose their freedom. There is also the case of mistaken identity which can lead to unnecessary victimisation of innocent persons.
Though Mr Asante’s case had dragged on unduly, The Mirror wishes to commend the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) for providing him with counsel, who helped in changing his circumstance.
We hope that GNAT will continue to extend a helping hand by ensuring that Mr Mensah is reinstated to his former employment without any further delay.
As he summed up in an interview, “It saddens my heart that all these years have been wasted. I have suffered for nothing and it has cost me so much.”
We hope that Mr Mensah will put this unfortunate and painful experience behind him and push forward to make his dreams, one of which is to pursue a degree and subsequently study law, come true.
It is expected that his counsel will act with dispatch in getting the courts to do the right thing to restore him to normalcy and purge him of the stigma of being labelled an ex-convict.