‘If I get poison, I will drink it and die’ – 68-year-old woman breaks down after wrongful jail term

A 68-year-old woman, Ama Forson of Nyanyano, has broken down emotionally after spending four years in prison over a 15-year jail sentence for an alleged drug-related offence she says she did not commit.

Ama Forson was sentenced to 15 years in prison at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison on allegations that she was involved in the sale of cannabis, popularly known as “wee.”

Following an appeal, she has since been released from prison. However, speaking in an interview with Crime Check TV on YouTube, Ama Forson said the hardship, disgrace and emotional trauma she experienced during her incarceration had left her feeling hopeless.

She said she sometimes feels like taking poison to end her life.

Ama Forson maintained that she was innocent and had been wrongly convicted despite not committing any offence.

Recounting what led to her arrest, she said she used to sell food and alcohol at ACC and had been given an uncomplete building by a landlord as a place to sleep. According to her, the landlord also used the building to smoke.

She explained that one day, the woman she worked for needed money, so she decided to go and deliver it to her. Before leaving, however, her young child told her that about 17 police officers were looking for her because they claimed she was selling cannabis.

She said she told the child that she would return but upon arriving at the location, the police handcuffed her and took her to the police station.

“I was like, if I am selling wee and food, I wouldn’t have even come when you called me. But they said I had to go to the ACC Police Station. My child followed us, crying. Someone took the child and I slept at the ACC cells,” she recounted.

According to her, she was taken to the Kasoa Police Station the following day, where the police allegedly told her they had found a woman’s bag containing a cement paper and a bottle with what they suspected to be cannabis.

She said the items were attributed to her despite her denial.

“I said all I could say but they still said I was guilty,” she stated.

Ama Forson said she spent more than two years in police cells before she was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison.

She also claimed that she had to spend money on fuel for police officers to transport her to court during the period.

According to her, the experience has left her devastated, particularly following the death of her only son.

“I was jailed for 15 years and someone explained to me what the judge was saying. I spent more than two years in the cells before I was jailed. I was always buying petrol for the police officers to take me to court,” she said.

Reflecting on the hardship she has faced since her release, Ama Forson said she feels her life has been destroyed.

“For what I have been through, if I get poison, I will drink it just to die and end it all. I cry always and all my things have been destroyed. When I came out, my child was also dead,” she said.