Tripartite Committee To Probe Ejura Killings Announced

The Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery has announced a three-person committee that will investigate the deadly violence that erupted earlier in the week in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.

The committee, announced on the afternoon of Thursday, July 1, comprises George Kingsley Koomson, a judge in the Court of Appeal, international relations and security expert Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, and Juliet Amoah, a media-tech innovator.

The tripartite committee has been given a 10-day period with which to complete their investigations.

The constitution of the committee follows a directive by President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Ministry of Interior to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of social activist Ibrahim Anyass Mohammed and others during a protest in Ejura.

About half a dozen protesters were admitted into care for various degrees of wounds sustained from bullets after the protest on Monday, June 28.

Minority reaction

But the Minority in Parliament has rejected President Akufo-Addo’s call for a probe.

“We will not accept any ministerial enquiry. We want an enquiry that has the true meaning of article 278 of the 1992 constitution,” Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said at a press conference on Wednesday, June 30.

According to him, an independent institution must conduct the investigations and not the Ministry for the Interior, which oversees the work of the Ghana Police Service.

“The state security cannot absorb themselves. The President must appoint a judge because definitely, we will reject any recommendations from any ministerial enquiry,” he stated emphatically.

Background

Ibrahim Mohammed, also known as Macho Kaaka, was attacked by a mob, and he later died due to injuries.

Witness accounts showed that the deceased was ambushed in front of his house when he was returning home on his motorbike at about 1:30 am on Sunday, June 27, 2021.

Macho Kaaka was rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital to receive medical treatment after the attack.

He was later transferred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he died at midday on Monday, June 28, 2021, the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Godwin Ahianyo, told the media at a press briefing.

Providing an account of the incident, the widow of the deceased, Sahada Hudu, said she found him in a pool of blood after the attack.

“I thought my husband was driving away goats from the house at the time. Little did I know that he was being attacked. We saw him in a pool of blood. The people bolted as soon as we opened the door to check what was happening,” she recounted.

Before his death, Ibrahim Muhammed, aged 45, took to social media, where he posts critiques in the Ejura Municipality and other issues of national importance.

His last activity on Facebook was to share a post criticizing the arrest of 15 members of the #TheFixCountry at the High Court Complex on June 25.

Meanwhile, police have arrested two persons in connection with the murder.

The suspects have been identified as Ibrahim Isaka and Fuseini Alhassan.

Both suspects were arrested at about 10:45 pm on Monday, June 28, 2021, following