The three-member ministerial committee tasked to investigate the disturbances recorded at Ejura in the Ashanti Region last week, has assured the people of Ejura and Ghanaians at large of a diligent work.
According to the Chairman of the committee, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice George Kingsley Koomson, their only aim is to unravel the truth.
Justice George Kingsley Koomson in a Citi News interview thus called on all persons involved or connected to the events to volunteer information.
He said that is the only way the Committee can make the needed recommendations to the government.
“Any person who has information or knowledge about what took place will be spoken to. Ejura is a big place so we wouldn’t know whether person A or person B was present when the incident took place. If I can use the media as an example, we know that when the incident was happening, some media houses covered it live, so they, from their own reportage, have some evidence that will be helpful to us.”
“Those ones we are extending invitations to them specifically, but the people Ejura should also assist us to do our work and make the appropriate recommendations to government.”
He said the committee will ask for an extension of time should the need arise.
According to him, the Committee is determined to speak to all persons with vital and critical information to help it ascertain the truth.
“ We stand by the truth and will always project the truth” he noted.
“The time of completion will depend on the number of persons we would have to speak to. Our mandate gives us ten days, but assuming that maybe those with vital information have not yet testified, we can’t say the ten days has expired so we will not hear them.”
“We may when the circumstances permit request for extension of the period for us to do a thorough job. So we will appeal to the people of Ejura to cooperate with us. We want them to give us the quality of evidence that will assist us to unravel the truth and make the needed recommendations, and we want to assure them and the people of Ghana that we stand by the truth and we will always project the truth.”
Committee begins preparatory works
The committee began preparatory arrangements on Monday for its sitting on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.
The committee will sit every day except on Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
The three-member committee on Monday, July 5, 2021, met the Ejura Traditional Council, the leadership of the Zongo Community, and affected families.
Background
The President’s directive for the setting up of the committee followed the killing of two people and the injuring of four others by soldiers during a protest against the killing of a social activist, Ibrahim Muhammed.
The deceased, alias Macho Kaaka, died on Monday, June 28, 2021, after he was attacked by a mob while returning home on his motorbike on Sunday at Ejura.
He’s alleged to have been killed because of his social activism, which some persons felt was making the government unpopular.
The 45-year-old was noted to be vocal on both local and national issues using his Facebook page.
His family says he had faced threats over his activism prior to the attack.
He was rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital and later referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he died at midday on June 28.
Police in the Ashanti Region have since arrested three persons in connection with his death and put them before the court.
Ibrahim Muhammed was buried on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, alongside the two others who died in the protest.
Meanwhile, one of the four injured persons, a sixteen-year-old boy, has had one of his legs amputated at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
