Society girl with alleged government links handed 8 years jail
The Ghanaian woman in the thick of the 12.5kg cocaine smuggling scandal that rocked the West African nation a few months ago has been sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison at Isleworth Crown Court.
Nayele Ametefe, aka Ruby Adu-Gyamfi, had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to transport the drug, with a street value of over £2m, to the UK. Ametefe is reported to have also had over $25,000 in cash on her person when she was arrested at Heathrow airport.
Court transcripts show that the judge remarked that the consignment, whose purity was measured at 79 percent, was among the purest form of cocaine ever seized at Heathrow, with a purity level of 79%.
It has been alleged that Ametefe was en route to the Dominican Republic, though whether this was the final discharge point for the cocaine is not clear. However, court transcripts shed light on the circumstances leading to her capture, revealing that she was given access to a Very Very Important Person (VVIP) lounge at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport, a courtesy usually reserved for high-ranking Government officials and those close to them. Officials in Ghana claim it is this that helped her move the contraband out of the country undetected.
At least three security and Civil Service officials, said to have been complicit in the high-profile case, are currently on trial in Ghana. The trial, involving Alhaji Dawood and six others accused of allegedly aiding Ametefe to transport the illicit drugs, has been adjourned until January 21. Two of those on trial, Nana Akua Amponsah and Sadalia Sandra Nuhu, are said to have accompanied Ametefe to the UK, but to have fled when she was apprehended.
Ametefe, who apart from Ruby also goes by the aliases Cleopatra and Angel, is rumoured to have connections among Ghana’s elite class, including President John Mahama and his family.
Mr James Scoobie, counsel for the defendant, told the judge his client became vulnerable in 2004 because she came into contact with some key people in government. Mentioning no names, he added that Ms Ametefe came from a poor background and, after breaking up with her husband, she needed to support and take care of her three children.
“She met a friend who introduced her to high personalities in society in Ghana after breaking up with her husband in 2004. The friend she met in 2004 had close links with key people in government at the time, and she was vulnerable and needed to protect her children and so she accepted most of the things that came her way. Her companion also supported her lifestyle; flying first class and so on. Her friend also introduced her to people having political power in Ghana…” the lawyer said.
According to Mr Scoobie, he needed to put out this information to stop the rumours that were going on back in Ghana.
The Republic newspaper has alleged that Nayele Ametefe is the daughter of Akua Afriyie, one of three NPP Dzorwulu branch women who were nabbed in February 2002 for trafficking in narcotic drugs.
Other rumours circulated in Ghana over the weekend that Ametefe was planning to change her plea to ‘not guilty’, causing concern that other, possibly elite Ghanaians might become implicated. Tuesday afternoon’s sentencing appears to have alleviated such concerns.
Ms Ametefe, who holds dual Ghanaian and Austrian citizenship, is expected to relocate to Austria after completing her prison term in the UK.
In November, President John Mahama strongly refuted allegations that Ms Ametefe was connected in any way to his family and, via one of his ministers, challenged UK authorities to produce a diplomatic passport or any official government clearance document in the accused’s possession.
Dr. Omane Boamah, Ghana’s Minister for Communications, reacted angrily to suggestions Ametefe travelled with diplomatic privileges, saying: “Why the British High Commission failed or refused to comment on whether [Ms Ametefe] was arrested with a diplomatic passport, I cannot understand.
“If they didn’t speak, it [would have been] a different ball game; [but] they have spoken. They should stand up and be counted.”
