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It has become clear that Ghana’s security apparatus, has discarded rubber bullets and tear gas meant to subdue mass actions and to control crowds by resorting to the use of life bullets, leaving behind dead bodies, broken limbs, tears and blood anytime there is mob incidents.
In recent times, both the police and soldiers, have sought to kill by shooting directly into the crowd during street protests and this has led to deaths, including yesterdays killing of two persons as youth clash with police and military at Ejura Sekyeredumase in the Ashanti Region.
Many others, have been left with gun wounds from shots fired by uniformed men, some of whom were seen in a video kneeling down and shooting directly into the unarmed crowd yesterday.
The shooting incident is reminiscent of the Ayawaso West Wuogo by-election violence and also similar to the Techiman South election violence in which police and soldiers were seen shooting into an unarmed crowd, leaving some six persons dead and 11 others permanently injured during the 2020 general election.
The Ejura incident comes after some youth, took to the streets to protest the death of a #FixTheCountry campaigner, Ibrahim Mohammed, popularly known as Kaaka, on Monday, June 28, 2021.
The protestors, according to media reports, stormed the police station in the vicinity to demand answers concerning the death of Kaaka.
Police personnel at the station, had to resort to the use of water cannons to disperse the agitated crowd.
This method did not work entirely as some of the protestors remained on the street despite their colleagues running for their lives.
Wife of the deceased, Zahada Hudu, has disclosed that she knows the killers of her husband.
She stated that the deceased #FixTheCountry campaigner was killed after receiving threats for making the Akufo-Addo government unpopular on social media.
She wants the police to thoroughly conduct investigations into her husband’s murder so that the perpetrators will be brought to book.
The deceased has been buried per his Islamic customs.
Meanwhile, Salifu Bamba, the Municipal Chief Executive of the area, has indicated readiness to assist the police investigate the issue.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ejura Sekyeredumase, has been accused by some youth in the Ejura area for masterminding the assault on social activist Ibrahim Mohammed which resulted in his death, and denied sanctioning any such move.
In an interview with Neat FM, Salisu Bamba, denied knowledge of the supposed bodyguard who allegedly attacked Mohammed who is popularly known as Macho Kaaka.
He urged the public to desist from making comments that could sway the police’s focus from the main killers of the activists.
He assured the police of his cooperation and called for peace in the Ejura area.
He also called on the police to work hard to identify the culprits.
“I don’t walk around with bodyguards. If it becomes necessary for me to get security, I usually engage the service of a police officer. Most of the time, I walk around without security. It is unfortunate that instead of us assisting the police to investigate the matter, it is being blamed on a supposed bodyguard. If we do that, we make it difficult for the police to find the real culprits”.
“What matters most is that the perpetrators of the act are arrested. I’m ready to assist the police investigate the issue. I will submit myself to the police to ensure that justice prevails, but if we start accusing people, it wouldn’t help. Not until this issue came, I didn’t know about his social media activities,” he said.
“Accusing fingers are being pointed at Salisu Bamba for the death of Kaaka, with critics alleging the persons who pummeled Kaaka on June 25, 2021, were his security escorts. The youth of the place are calling President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to relieve him of his post as he has been ‘tormenting’ the people.
“Do you know how many people have died since this guy was forced on us as MCE? NPP will collapse and this town can’t contain us if Sualisu Bamba is forced on us again. How many people must die before Akufo-Addo realizes he has imposed a tyrant, incompetent and heartless mafia boss as our MCE.
First, it was Rauf, and one guy at Hiawoanwu and now Kaaka. What we are telling the President is that enough is enough. We won’t sit down for Bamba and his boys to rule this town like a separate territory,” Inyass Awudu said.
Meanwhile, the Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, has revealed that the government told the #FixTheCountry movement that the state could not allow their intended march amidst the coronavirus pandemic, thus, the magnanimous overture of the Akufo-Addo administration in providing them a meeting opportunity with top government officials to hear them directly and address them forthwith.
“Where have we shown high-handedness against the #FixTheCountry [campaign]? #FixTheCountry is a group of young people relevant, the majority of people in this country are young – they have issues; the first thing they came out with was that they wanted to demonstrate and then we said: ‘Look, at that time, even now, Sierra Leone, Liberia and all that, even you know the UK had to postpone its lifting of the lockdown, corona is really increasing around us; so, we said: ‘Look, immediately, it will not be possible for us to allow you to [demonstrate] but come to a meeting'”, Mr Dery recounted to journalists on Tuesday, 29 June 2021.
“So, we held a meeting”, he said, explaining: “At that meeting, all the security ministers were there: the minister of finance was there, the minister of foreign affairs and we said: ‘While we are waiting to see how we can give you the chance to demonstrate, what are the issues?”
“Can you bring up the issues and we see how we can resolve them? If we fail to resolve them and you want a broader representation from the government, we would do so”, he revealed.
According to him, the conveners said at that meeting that “they had to go back and consult”.
Mr Dery, also said neither the Akufo-Addo-led government nor the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) was behind the recent murder of one of the activists of the #FixTheCountry movement in the Ashanti Region, Ibrahim ‘Kaaka’ Muhammed.
Kaaka, who was also a member of the Economic Fighters League, was attacked in the early hours of Saturday, 26 June 2021, which resulted in his unconsciousness and hospitalization.
He died while on admission on Sunday, June 28, 2021. Mr Dery told journalists that “we want to know who did the beating, we want to know who attacked the person”, adding: “What is this thing about the government, it’s the NPP [who killed him?].”
When parallels were drawn between the intended demonstration and the funeral held for late Forestry Commission CEO Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Dery retorted that with “Sir John’s funeral, no permit was given to them to attend the funeral. It’s different”.
In contrast, he said: “You are asking the police to give you a permit to demonstrate”. “By the way, you are doing so because you want to give us a message and we are saying: ‘What is the message? Is it that the security agencies are not really doing their work? Is it the economy?'”
Mr Dery, insisted the government is not against the march, stressing: “We have no difficulty whatsoever with the #FixTheCountry movement”. “Let me make it clear; we are not a government that is against demonstrations. At all. We are not”, he emphasized. So, he noted, “we are interested in whoever they said is fixing but that name that I heard, that’s the first time I heard it and they say he’s fixing”.
He, however, warned: “Don’t also let us allow criminals to get away because while we are supposed to be pursuing them, we are engaging in this argument about this”. “Whoever it is who attacked that person, it was a criminal act; we condemn it. The government does not support illegal, criminal acts at all”, he said.
Asked what he was doing about the murder, Mr Dery said: “I’m making sure the police follows up. That’s why I told you that the first thing I got, I sent it to the police and the police said: ‘Look, I’ve seen your thing, where is the hospital?’ I said: ‘Go ahead and find it out”.
“We are interested and I am condemning it,” Mr Dery, said and also expressed his sympathies to the family of the deceased. “I want to actually extend my condolences to the family and to ask all those who have information about what exactly happened to come forward and I’m assuring you that the government is not out to protect any criminal”, explaining: “If he kills you today, he’ll kill me tomorrow and, so, we are not interested in that”.
