A Planning Development lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Dr. Stephen Takyi says the setting up of a commission to investigate the violence that characterized last Thursday’s by-election at the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency, is complete waste of time especially when the persons who perpetrated the acts are known, can be easily identified and dealt with without having to use a commission of Enquiry .
Speaking on OTEC fm’s Morning Show dubbed “NYANSAPO” with Captain Koda, Dr. Takyi was of the view that ones the Minister of State in charge of the National security Hon Bryan Acheampong has admitted knowing the culprits and he is still at post, then, setting up Commission of Enquiry is pointless.
“And we have various footages, they can be identified and they should be dealt with in the normal course of business. I don’t see how a Commission of Enquiry fits into this matter,” he stressed.
“In my humble opinion this is one of the old style of addressing issues, as our father John Mahama said Ghanaians have short memory and are soon forget things, we buy time then we push it aside, when we are in opposition then, we forget that we have institutional problems in Ghana, but when we are in government enjoying with V8s and other luxury cars then we turned not remember that we have institutional problems” Dr. Stephen Takyi noted.
He sees the move by government as a waste of time and public resources, especially when the persons who perpetrated the acts are known, can be easily identified and dealt with without having to use a commission of enquiry.
“Some persons have publicly said that they are the ones who deployed them, so those persons must be made to produce the people they deployed”.
The Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with the consent of President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is currently out of Ghana, set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the shooting incident that marred the 31 January 2019 Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.
The Commission is chaired by a former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short.
Legal expert Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu and Mr Patrick K. Acheampong, a former IGP, are members of the Commission.
The Commission has a former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management and Professional Administration (GIMPA), Mr. Ernest Kofi Abotsi, as Secretary.
The terms of reference of the Commission are as follows:
• To make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the circumstances of, and establish the facts leading to, the events and associated violence during the Ayawaso West Wuogon By-Election on the 31st day of January 2019;
• To identify any person responsible for or who has been involved in the events, associated violence and injuries;
• To inquire into any matter which the Commission considers incidental or reasonably related to the causes of the events and the associated violence and injuries; and
• To submit within one month its report to the President giving reasons for its findings and recommendations, including appropriate sanctions, if any.
Making reference to past experiences where reports from commissions of such nature end up gathering dust, Dr Takyi hoped for a “swifter decision to be taken on the issue.”
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/ Isaac Nsiah Foster
