Brother Fathers Child With Sister, Marries Her

A mother has been jailed in Ghana for consenting to a sexual relationship between her children.
Adjoa Francisca approved a conjugal relationship between her two biological children, Kofi Mensah, and Ama Essumanba, 19, which has produced a baby.

Adjoa Francisca is said to have taken a dowry of GH¢40 from her son, Mensah, a 22-year-old driver to enable him to marry his sister.

The woman pleaded guilty when she appeared before the court presided over by Florence Kai Otoo and was subsequently jailed seven years for aiding and abetting incestuous behaviour.

Kofi Mensah however pleaded not guilty and was remanded into police custody to re-appear on June 6, 2012. His sister-cum-wife, Ama Essumanba, who is nursing a month-old baby from the relationship, was granted a GH¢2000 bail with two sureties.

Mensah, according to the prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector Okoom, was arrested for impregnating his own sister.

Mensah was arrested by the Central Regional branch of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service for incest with his biological sister.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE earlier, the regional DOVVSU Coordinator, George Appiah-Sakyi, indicated that the complainant of the case was Mensah’s mother, Adjoa Francisca. He added that the mother reported the matter to his outfit when Mensah threatened to beat her up if she tried to stop them from their amorous relationship.

DSP Appiah-Sakyi stated that the mother had already taken GH¢40 from Mensah as dowry after Essumanba gave birth, adding that she would have probably kept the issue a secret amongst them had Mensah not threatened to beat her up.

The DOVVSU coordinator said Mensah was later arrested after the report had been made to the police and charged for incest with Essumanba in line with section 105 of the Criminal Offences Act, Act 29, 1960.

The mother, according to him, was also charged for aiding and abetting, according to section 20 of the same act. He added that they would soon be arraigned for prosecution.

Their mother, Adjoa Francisca, who was staying in the same house with them, had to be relocated to a different place when she was beaten by them for advising them to put an end to the shameful act.

She added that after some months, when Essumanba had given birth to a baby boy, two of her children told her that Mensah had been having sexual intercourse with their sister, a situation which compelled her to monitor them.

“I advised my children who informed me about it not to tell anybody since it was a taboo and I monitored their movement and caught them red handed,” she said.

Essumanba also admitted to the offence when she was interviewed. Mensah got angry when he was asked whether Francisca was his mother. “Go and report me to the police so that they can come and arrest me, Francisca is my grandmother,” he added.