It was, “I don’t know… I do not remember,” moments when a police witness mounted the dock to testify in the protracted legal battle between Multimedia journalist Latif Iddrisu and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General.
Barely eight years after the life-threatening assault, the defence finally opened its case on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. However, the witness did little more than demonstrate his inability to answer relevant questions, particularly regarding his claim of an identification parade.
Answering questions from lead counsel for Latif Iddrisu and the Multimedia Group, Sampson Lardie Anyenini, Superintendent Adom, an officer with the legal department of the Ghana Police Service at police headquarters, told the court that although he was not present at the parade, documents he “inherited” indicated that the police administration had organised one. He further claimed that Latif Iddrisu and his witnesses failed to identify the officers who allegedly assaulted him.
He could not, however, point to any invitation extended to the plaintiff for the so-called identification parade, stating only that “there are various ways of invitations.”
Earlier, Superintendent Adom had outlined the standard protocol followed by the Ghana Police Service during an identification parade, including blending probable suspects with random officers, taking photographs of the process, documenting the date and time, and preparing a report once the parade concluded.
Yet, no documents, photographs, or reports have been presented to the court to substantiate that such a parade ever took place.
When asked to provide the date of the alleged parade, the officer requested a moment to refresh his memory by referencing his own witness statement—a move supported by the senior State Attorney, Nancynita Twumasi Asiamah, representing the Attorney General, but objected to by the plaintiff’s lawyer.
The judge sustained the objection, noting that there were no dates or times in paragraphs 24 and 25 of the witness statement and described the request to “refresh memory” as “mute.”
Under direct questioning, Superintendent Adom admitted, “I do not remember,” regarding the date of the parade and could not recall which officer(s) supervised it.
Superintendent Adom could not provide answers to the questions because, as a matter of fact, the police witness told untruth to the court when he stated in his witness statement that an identification parade was organised by the Ghana Police Service, where Latif Iddrisu and his witnesses, Kwesi Parker Wilson and Joel, failed to identify the officers who allegedly assaulted the journalist.
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