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Photo Courtesy: Abod |
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GOVT says its
not apathetic
Ghanadot.com January 21, 2007
In 1995, a group of politicians embarked on a
demonstration to protest against the introduction of the
Value Added Tax in Ghana.The Association of Committee for
the Defence of the Revolution believed to be sponsored by
the then National Democratic Congress (NDC)
government countered the demonstration and in the process
four lives were lost. Years on, nothing concrete has been
done and questions are been asked.
The same goes for the killing of the Ya-Na and 40 of his
household. The ruling New
Patriotic Party (NPP) has made some efforts at addressing
the issues. But many are not satisfied.
Gideon Sackitey writes:
Ghana’s Foreign Minister and NPP Presidential aspirant has
played down agitations to reopen a case in which four people
were killed during demonstrations against the introduction
of The Value Added Tax in 1995.
He said it was wrong on anybody’s part to think that
government was not concerned or apathetic about the
case.
Nana Addo Akuffo Addo, who was then the Attorney General and
Minister of Justice told a local radio station during a
discussion that the prosecution of the bloody demonstration
would not yield anything and believes the matter should be
laid to rest.
“It was a decision taken in the public interest and I will
stand by it today especially since the collation of evidence
for this matter, it was obvious from the very beginning it
was going to be a very difficult exercise. You have
institutions, public institutions that were involved in the
matter." He said.
The demonstration was led by a number of people, now mostly
government ministers, including politicians, who opposed the
then NDC Government’s policy of introducing the Value Added
Tax.
The peaceful march turned bloody when supporters of the then
Government, led by members of the Association of Committees
for the Defence of the Revolution (ACDR), forcefully
organised a counter march and clashed with the “Kumepreko”
protestors.
In the ensuing chaos, four people were left dead from
gunshot wounds while countless others sustained varying
degrees of injuries.
Some of the leaders of the “Kumepreko” march, including Nana
Akuffo Addo, who were then in opposition, campaigned for
state investigations into the confrontation to bring all
culprits involved in the shooting to face the law.
The calls for the investigations and prosecution went
unheeded, and many were those who expected the NPP
Government to take up the matter on winning power from the
NDC.
Nana Addo’s intervention in the radio programme also touched
the crucial Wednesday, March 27, 2002 killing of the Ya-Na,
Yakubu Andani II, King of Dagbon and 40 others of his
household re-echoeing Government’s call to anyone with
evidence of the king’s killers to provide information to the
further prosecution of the case.
He argued that the circumstances under which the killings
occurred makes it difficult to determine the perpetrators.
“It is wrong for anyone to assume that the killings were
automatically murder.”
He contended that the Wuaku Commission, set up by the NPP
government two years ago, looked into all the matters
involved in the Dagbon crisis, including whether there were
military tanks involved, had difficulties in its work which
reflected in contradictions in the report.
“When you look at the report, you see these contradictions.
Yes, prosecute certain people. Those people are put before
court, Yidana and Iddrisu Jahanfo, I put them before court.
What was the evidence against them? They were seen to be
holding parts of the body of the Ya-Na in Yendi and
therefore there was the presumption that they killed him.
“That presumption was rebutted in court. They were holding
the dead leg but there was no evidence that that they were
responsible for the death because that can happen, the
person can be killed and people can come upon the body and
dismember it. They are not necessarily those who killed the
man”, he said.
Opposition figures, politicians and some civil society
bodies have over the years blamed government for non-action
with some arguing government involvement. Hence, the slow
pace or non compliance with the prosecution.
The issue has been a major bone of contention dividing
government and the various gates to the Dagbon crisis on one
hand and government and the political characters in the
country on the other.
To many, the issues notably the mysterious deaths of the
first four in the demonstrations and the death of the Ya Naa
with 40 of his household, is a crucial matter to the
determination of who becomes President in 2008.The matter
been that a lot of people are not happy with the manner in
which government has handled the situation.
But as the
foreign Minister noted, the incidence didn't happen on NPP's
watch and it was a different light of day then.
“Now in a
different light of day you know what was going to happen
because they were going to make every effort to try and
suppress the embarrassing part of their own conduct and
therefore make it difficult to have a fairer matter. When
Attorney Generals take decisions like that then it is by no
means an endorsement of impunity.”
We hope that with time this matter can be
settled and that the victims could be compensated in
one way or the other.
Gideon Sackitey, Accra, Ghanadot.com , January 21,2006.
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