“Ejura Committee Report Is A Poor Attempt At Cover-Up” – Sammy Gyamfi Fires (VIDEO)
The National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has described the 55-page report of the Three (3)- Member Ministerial Committee of Inquiry which was set up to investigate the circumstances that led to the disturbances, shootings, injuries, and death of some persons in Ejura in the Ashanti Region of Ghana on the 29th of June, 2021 as a poor attempt at a cover-up.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, after an objective and painstaking examination, it has discovered that the report is full of faulty findings, flawed conclusions, and deficient recommendations, calculated to shield from accountability the murderers of a social activist, Ibrahim Muhammed aka “Macho Kaaka” and the perpetrators of the subsequent state-sponsored killings in Ejura by the military.
Addressing Journalists in Accra on Tuesday, Sammy Gyamfi said “Today’s presser will thus focus on some of the false findings of the committee, particularly on the death of “Macho Kaaka”, and the recommendations of the committee which we find deficient, particularly those that border on the unfortunate happenings in Ejura on the 28th and 29th of June, 2021. Distinguished friends from the media, our careful study of the report of the three-member committee reveals three (3) fundamental problems which we find very troubling to say the least”
He stressed that the first and most disappointing was the false finding of the committee relative to who killed Ibrahim Muhammed aka “Kaaka”, who before his death was a social activist and a member of the “Fix the Country Movement”.
Mr. Gyamfi noted that the Justice Koomson committee in its report indicated that to them, it is more probable that Kaaka was killed as a result of a “family feud” and not because of his “fix the country” social activism.
“Friends from the media, nothing could be further from the truth than this claim by the committee, and we in the NDC are appalled by the very labored, albeit unsuccessful attempt by the committee to shield the perpetrators of that heinous crime from liability and punishment. That finding flies in the face of the facts and cannot be accepted by the Ghanaian people who expected nothing short of the truth from any impartial inquiry worth its salt into the sad events that unfolded at Ejura” he fumed.
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He said “We wish to make the point forcefully, ladies and gentlemen, that no credible or verified evidence of a feud in Kaaka’s family was adduced by any of the witnesses who appeared before the committee to testify because there is none. One, therefore, wonders how the Committee came to this contrived conclusion. Our checks reveal that Kaaka was at peace with his brother, Iddi, and lived in harmony with him. This was duly corroborated by the wife, Sahada Hudu, mother and family relatives of Kaaka, as well as the people they lived with. The idea that Kaaka was killed as a result of a family feud is, therefore, the invention of the committee, and as such, cannot be allowed to stand”
The National Communication Officer of the NDC added that it is quite strange that the committee dismissed the testimony of the wife of Kaaka, Sahada Hudu about threats on Kaaka’s life by certain people who had issues with Kaaka’s social activism.
He mentioned that it was no secret that assigns of the former Ejura MCE, Salisu Bamba who became uncomfortable with Kaaka’s social activism, which they claim was exposing their boss the MCE and the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to public ridicule and opprobrium threatened Kaaka with harm and death when he was alive.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the media, it does appear that delinking Kaaka from the “Fix the country” conversation was the main reason for the setting up of the Justice Koomson Committee and that is precisely what they have done. Is it not rather curious that the Committee conveniently chose to ignore and sweep under the carpet, a warning letter written by the Ejura Police Command dated 15th June 2021 and addressed to “Kaaka”, accusing him of “offensive conduct conducive to the Breach of the peace” all because Kaaka was fighting for the development of Ejura and Ghana as a whole? This warning letter from the Police followed efforts by the assigns of the then Municipal Chief Executive for Ejura, Salisu Bamba to silence and cower Kaaka over his “Fix the Country” activism. To have ignored this material fact and rather come to such a contrived finding of a family feud easily gives the Justice Koomson Committee out as one with an agenda to twist the facts right from the word go” he said.
Mr. Gyamfi said “This, the Committee did without due cognizance of the fact that Sadia Fuseini had earlier given a contrary testimony in her first statement to the Police when the matter first broke, in which she had indicated that she saw two sticks and two men bolting away from their compound after she stepped out. As a matter of fact, it was on the basis of this first account by Sadia Fuseini that Ibrahim Issaka, a.k.a Anyass, and Fuseini Alhassan, all of whom are known bodyguards of the former Ejura MCE, Salisu Bamba, were arrested a day after Kaaka’s murder”
“Also, we find it quite strange and unacceptable that the Committee made no efforts to verify the in-camera testimony of Aminu Mohammed who testified of the existence of a feud between Kaaka and his brother, Iddi. Per our checks and as he himself confirmed when he appeared before the Committee, Aminu Mohammed lived in Burkina Faso and was not in Ejura when Kaaka was murdered and at the time of the Ejura disturbances. Aminu Mohammed provided no evidence to buttress his claim that Kaaka before his gruesome murder had caused the arrest of his brother Iddi sometime in 2020, and could not even tell the Committee the offense Iddi was arrested for. Also, Aminu provided no evidence to buttress his claim that Iddi traveled to Nigeria immediately after his arrest and detention in 2020, which claim has been refuted by the Kaaka’s family. Yet, the committee wholeheartedly relied on his in-camera testimony without verifying the same from the Police or Kaaka’s family. There is no indication whatsoever in the 55-page report of the committee that they took any steps to verify Aminu Mohammed’s claim about the existence of a feud between Kaaka and his brother, Iddi before they came to the findings and conclusions contained in their report” he said.
The NDC says it condemns in no uncertain terms the shameful attempt by the Committee at cover-up and hereby unreservedly supports the decision of the family of the late Kaaka to reject the committee’s report.
Watch the video below:
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith