‘I had no hope of justice’ – Sam George on Govt’s partial rejection of Short C’ssion findings
The Ningo Prampram Member of Parliament (MP), Sam George, says the government’s rejection of some of the findings of the Emile Short Commission after a probe of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence did not surprise him.
In a statement, Sam George, who was assaulted by a National Security officer during the by-election, said: “I had no hopes of justice from this government and I have been vindicated.”
He said the government’s White Paper on the findings is the “clearest sign yet” that the President and national security apparatus have been plotting “a grand agenda of unleashing violence and undermining the peace, stability and safety of our beloved Republic.”
“The position of Government in the accompanying White Paper reinforces my long-held view that the dastardly actions of January 31st 2019 had the tacit approval of those who occupy the highest office of the land. The rabid disagreement with the findings and recommendations of the Commission are the testament of this fact.”
The Commission recommended the criminal prosecution the security personnel, Mohammed Sulemana, for slapping Sam George.
But the government argued that prosection was not necessary because the facts presented by the Commission supported “a valid defence of provocation for the said assault [by Mohammed Sulemana].”
In his appearance before the commission, national security operative apologised for slapping the MP.
But he also accused Sam George of targetting him with ethnocentric remarks.
Explaining why some of the findings were rejected, the government said, “the report failed to address the first and most critical of the terms of reference of the commission.”
“The failure to do so disables government from accepting in whole the findings of the commission,” the White Paper said.
The commission was among other things mandated “to make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the circumstances of, and establish the facts leading to the events and associated violence that occurred during the Aysawaso West Wuogon by-election.”
