KKD Needs Compassion … To Recover From Emotional Trauma

KKD

Embattled entertainment icon and broadcaster, Kwasi Kyei Darkwah would need the help of the general public to overcome any psychological trauma he may be suffering and to regain his public image, Nii Teiko Tagoe, a psychologist, has suggested.KKD was arrested after he allegedly raped a 19-year-old girl, Ewureffe Orleans Thompson, at the Africa Regent Hotel in Accra.

Although he admitted to having "consensual sex" with the lady in question, he denied raping her. He was subsequently charged with the offense of sexual assault and was denied bail on two occasions.

The TV icon has since received varied public criticism and ridicule over the incident, with many suggesting that he may never recover from the damage it will have on his public image

Last Tuesday, the lady at the centre of the controversy declared she was no longer interested in pursuing the case.

Mr Kwasi Kyei Darkwah has subsequently rendered an unqualified apology to Ghanaians for what he calls a “public ridicule and disgrace that ensued by reason of the fleeting pleasure of the flesh involving Ewureffe Orleans Thompson and myself.”

In a statement signed by KKD moments after news of the alleged rape victim's letter to discontinue with the case went viral, the ace broadcaster said he acknowledges that he has sinned and has prayed to God for forgiveness.

“I acknowledge I have sinned and have prayed to my God for forgiveness for all that trauma I have caused the young woman.

I plead with all in the media to spare Ewureffe and our respective families any further agonies.

Kindly pray for us” he noted.

Many have described his public apology as timely, an indication of the gentleman he is.

But the psychologist says the broadcaster might be battling the most difficult moment in his life; he must learn to forgive himself first.

He noted that while KKD cannot control what people may say about him, he can assert the truth, communicate more and connect more with people close to him, to regain his confidence.

He appealed to the general public to help ‘raise’ KKD up again during his most difficult moment. 

A case for criminal jurisprudence 

A human rights lawyer, sharing an opinion on the turn of events, says the decision of the lady to drop the charges against KKD is worrying development for criminal jurisprudence

Speaking on the Morning Starr on Wednesday January 14, 2015 that he suspects collusion between KKD and the young woman in the withdrawal of the case – a situation he said bodes ill consequences for Ghana’s jurisprudence and justice system.

According to him, the case drop is a bad precedent, since in his view, it reinforces public perceptions that famous and prominent people in society can always buy their way out of criminality when the law catches up with them.

“We need to protect the judicial integrity and then the criminal jurisprudence of this country…otherwise you’d open the floodgates for people who think they are strong and mighty and influential to commit offences and get away with them,” Sosu intimated.

Some other legal luminaries have argued that the lady at the centre of the case has no locus in the matter again and that it is only the Attorney General that can discontinue the case despite her letter citing her willingness to discontinue the case.

Opoku Adusei, a lawyer and Lecturer at the Ghana Law School explains that in criminal matters, the accused is deemed to have committed the offence against the state and it is only the state that can decide to or not to prosecute the case.