Raphael Appiah Owusu has been declared persona non grata by KNUST
The public declaration of Raphael Appiah Owusu, a former student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), as persona non grata — following his involvement in violent incidents within the university halls despite his dismissal in the 2023/2024 academic year for poor academic performance — has opened a can of worms concerning his past conducts and activities.
Following the university’s announcement, which has since gone viral on social media, particularly on X, several netizens, believed to be former secondary school colleagues of Appiah Owusu, have linked him to a robbery incident that occurred in 2022.
The 2022 incident, which received widespread media coverage, alleged that three final-year students of Opoku Ware School (OWASS); Raphael Appiah Owusu, Akwasi Adu Donkor, and Osei Kwadwo Asubonteng, were involved in the attack and robbery of a taxi driver in Kumasi, located in the Ashanti Region.
Additional information disclosed that the trio were de-boardinised by OWASS for “terrorising fellow students on campus and also breaching some school rules and regulations.”
According to police reports, on Thursday, August 11, 2022, the three students convened in the Santasi area of Kumasi to plan a series of robberies.
Investigations further revealed that prior to attacking the taxi driver, the trio had allegedly robbed seven students of St Hubert Seminary Senior High School, also located in Santasi.
Prosecution stated that the victim, Akwasi Mohammed, a commercial taxi driver at Pekyi, was allegedly robbed by the students after they hired his services, starting from Santasi roundabout.
The students informed the driver to transport them to the Golden Tulip Hotel, which he reportedly did but upon arrival however, Raphael Appiah Owusu and his friends allegedly asked the driver to rather proceed to Rattray Park where they began the attack on him.
The driver was stabbed in the neck, police report said, and was beaten and dragged to the back seat of his car while struggling with his attackers.
One of the accused took over the wheel of the car, and in the process stole an amount of GH¢150 from the driver.
On reaching Ahodwo, the student, who was driving the vehicle at the time, lost control, hit a wall, and damaged the car.
Following a crash involving the vehicle, two of the students attempted to flee the scene. However, the injured driver managed to alert nearby individuals, leading to the immediate arrest of two of the suspects.
The third was subsequently apprehended later.
They were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, and unlawful damage and granted bail of GH¢80,000 bail with five sureties each.
Statement from OWASS in 2022
In 2022, when the incident happened, the school authorities of OWASS released a statement, shared by dailyguidenetwork.com, distancing itself from the students, indicating that in the case of Raphael Appiah Owusu, he was withdrawn from the boarding house over robbery.
Parts of the statement signed by the Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee, Agyemang Duah Bismark, read; “Owusu Appiah Raphael was also withdrawn from the boarding house for stealing on countless occasions from his colleagues at the dormitory. After this incident, he and the other four students appeared before D.C. for wrongful entry into someone’s house at TUC. He has also been hiding in the dormitory despite his withdrawal from the boarding house.
“The day before his arrest, he was brought to D.C. for stealing tins of sardines at the dining hall and causing mayhem during supper time even though he was a day student and did not have the right to eat supper at the school.”
It added, “It is sad to report that the father of Raphael Owusu Appiah insulted the then Assistant headmaster, Mr Akwasi Oduro Boateng, and nearly fought him. He claimed the Assistant headmaster hated his son and wanted him to be withdrawn from the school.”
MAG/AE
Meanwhile, catch up on the concluding part of the story of Fort William, where children were sold in exchange for kitchenware, others, below:
