Review Board of Inquiry Ayawaso West Wuogon – Criminologist

General News on Thursday, February 7, 2019

Source: Starrfmonline.com

2019-02-07

A criminologist suggested reviewing the mandate of the commission to investigate the violence in the West Wougon Ayawaso by-election.

A three-member commission chaired by a former president of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Short, must, within a month, unravel the circumstances that have leads to acts of violence. The other members of the presidential commission are Henrietta Mensah Bonsu and Patrick K. Acheampong.

They were mandated to: "(a) conduct a thorough, faithful and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the events and acts of violence that occurred during the by-election; of Ayawaso West Wuogon of January 31, 2019; (b) identify any person responsible or involved in the events, violence and related injuries; (c) investigate any matter that the Board considers to be accidental or reasonably related to the causes of the events and the resulting violence and trauma; and (d) submit its report to the President within one month, indicating the reasons for its findings and recommendations, including appropriate sanctions, if any. "

However, in the Morning Starr, a criminologist, Judge Tankebe, said that the investigative scope of the commission should be expanded to cover other areas of police activity.

"I hope that the mandate given to the Commission will be slightly modified. The first should be an investigation into what happened in Ayawaso. The type of security architecture that we have may be the second mandate of the commission, "said Dr. Tankebe at the session facilitator, Eric Mawuenya Egbeta.

He added, "If the commission spends about a month investigating Ayawaso, the fundamental problems will still be there and that means nothing will change. The worst thing that can happen to us is not that of Ayawaso, but rather not to make good use of it.

"I think the mandate of the Commission or its duration should be changed immediately. To treat the only problem of Ayawaso by the Commission is not enough. "

Violence erupted in last Thursday's by-election in the Ayawaso-West Wuogon constituency after gunmen, heavily masked and armed, in police vehicles stormed the residence of the NDC parliamentary candidate's residence.

Ningo Prampram MP Sam George was also repeatedly badaulted and slapped by strangers.

Lydia Seyram Alhbadan of the NPP won the elections and was sworn in by Parliament on Tuesday.