Mr Andy Appiah-Kubi, Defence Counsel in the on-going alleged mass bus rape trial on Tuesday questioned the integrity of prosecution witness, Mr Ahmed Boahene, an Ahmaddiyya Missionary, saying he is not being truthful to the court.
Mr Appiah-Kubi said: "Your swearing by the Holy Quran not withstanding, you have been most untruthful since there were many contradictions in your statements made to the court."
The witness who was under cross-examination before an Accra High Court, replied: "I still stand by my statements made to the court that, apart from the attempted robbery nothing happened in the bus during the journey. Anyone who says that something happened has told a liar."
However, Mr Appiah-Kubi reacted: "You are the liar because you have not been truthful to the court".
"I have been truthful to the court", Mr Boahene replied.
A third prosecution witness, Stephen Agyenim Boateng, the co-driver of the bus lived at Atonsu, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Led in evidence by Mr Paul Asibi Abariga, Senior State Attorney, Boateng said on October 11, their bus took off from Accra around 10:00 pm to Bolgatanga.
Just before the Kubease Customs Division of GRA barrier, he noticed that the road had been blocked with logs in the middle of the road.
He said on reaching there "I heard a gun shot and my master who was then driving the bus hit one of the logs and drove through the barrier it without stopping and as a result of that the windscreen got damaged.
Mr Boateng explained that his master (the driver) did not stop until they reached Kubease township where they had to stop because an unusual noise was all around the bus" so we stopped to remove the log which was the source of the noise, then we continued the journey to Ejisu police station where my master reported the incident, and the next stop was at Kintampo".
During cross-examination, Mr Appiah-Kubi enquired from witness whether he saw the direction of the gunshot and he replied in the negative and did not see any person standing.
Witness said the bullet only hit the windscreen but did not pierce it.
Mr Appiah-Kubi asked whether the windscreen was bullet-proof but the witness replied that, "I am not an expert, so I would not know whether it is bullet-proof or not."
When asked how he concluded that the object that hit the windscreen was a bullet, he answered that it was because of the sound.
Defence counsel said: "I am suggesting to you that the sound you heard could be anything apart from a gunshot".
Mr Boateng said from the sound and the impact, it could not have been a stone.
He was testifying in the case in which, Amina Mohammed, a hairdresser has pleaded not guilty to publication of false news with intent to cause fear and panic and deceit of public officer. She is on GH¢5,000 bail.
The facts are that Amina lives at Ashaiman, near Tema, and on October 11, this year, together with her mother, they boarded an Accra-Tamale-Bolgatanga bound bus with registration number GN 263-10 to attend a funeral.
The accused alleged that during the journey, they were attacked by armed robbers at Kubease near the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) barrier, during which the armed robbers compelled men on the bus to have sex with the women, and a man who was travelling with his 14-year-old daughter was forced to defile her.
The prosecutor said the allegation was reported on a radio station and thereafter several radio stations took up the story and published it, thereby causing fear and panic.
It said when the driver of the bus was contacted, he told the police that on that day, he left Accra with 47 passengers for Bawku through Tamale and Bolgatanga.
The driver said at about 2200 hours he saw a road block mounted by the armed robbers but drove through it and lodged a complaint at the Ejisu
Police Station and continued the journey to his destination.
The prosecutor said Police investigations confirmed that there was an attempted robbery at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, but there was no mass rape as alleged by the accused.
The matter was adjourned to Wednesday, December 1.