The Government has set up a three-member Commission of Inquiry, chaired by Mr Justice Emile Short, to investigate and establish the facts leading to the events and associated violence in the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.
The former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), would work with, Mrs Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, a distinguished law professor of international repute, and Mr Patrick K. Acheampong, a former Inspector-General of Police.
Mr Ernest Kofi Abotsi, a former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a private legal practitioner, would work as the Commission’s secretary.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is acting as the President, set up the Commission with the consent of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, according to a statement signed and issued, in Accra, by Mr Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, on Wednesday.
The statement outlined the terms of reference of the Commission 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 January, 2019; identify any person responsible for or who has been involved in the events, associated violence and injuries; and 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 submit its report within a month to the President giving reasons for its findings and recommendations, including appropriate sanctions, if any”.
The shooting incident, which involved some unidentified masked gun men and some agents of the National Democratic Congress Party, happened at the La- Balaweshie residence of the Party’s Parliamentary Candidate in the election.
The incident, which saw some seven persons hospitalised with varied degrees of injuries, has been widely condemned locally and internally with calls for thorough investigations to bring the perpetrators to book.
The President, in condemning the incident, earlier on, urged the Inspector General of Police to swiftly investigate the matter conclusively.
The Police Wednesday said, they had taken statements from 16 persons, including the Member of Parliament for Prampram, who was sent a statement form.
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GNA
