• The three-member committee interrogated the Ashanti Regional Minister and Erastus Asare Donkor, a journalist
• The Ashanti Regional Minister defended his decision to deploy military men to the town
The three-member fact-finding committee probing the disturbances at Ejura on June 29, 2021, had its first sitting at the Assembly Hall of Prempeh College on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.
It was expected three witnesses will appear before the committee which has ten days to uncover the details of the shooting incident but only two of the witnesses made the attendance.
The two are the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah and Erastus Asare Donkor, a journalist who shot the viral video of the shootings.
Simon Osei-Mensah made the first appearance and mounted a spirited defence of his decision to order army personnel to the community.
He claims to have received intel and did not have enough time to convey a Regional Security meeting on the intel as required by law.
He saw nothing wrong with his unilateral decision to engage the service of army personnel contrary to what the law as pointed out by the committee members state.
“I received intelligence that the youth planned to destroy the Ejura Police station and a house belonging to two suspects arrested in connection with the death of Kaaka.
“So based on this information, I ordered the police and military to go to the town and maintain law and order and I did so as chairman of the Regional Security Council because the law grants me that power,” he told the Committee.
He also made a subtle attempt at justifying the killing of the two persons with the caveat that the youth of the area pelted the police with stones.
“The initial plan was to go there and ensure maintenance of law and order but while returning from the cemetery after the burial of Kaaka, the youth started attacking the police water cannon vehicle and I have a video to back this…indeed the professionalism of the police water cannon vehicle driver prevented what could have been a run over the protestant (sic), at this stage, the military stepped in and the firing started but I’m unable to tell who fired the shot,” Osei Mensah added.
He also accused the youth of the area of being indiscipline and recommended that the state must find ways to instill discipline in the youth.
Asked what he would recommend concerning that, Mr. Osei-Mensah said, “there are lots of indiscipline in the system because if it’s not indiscipline, how on earth should youth, some of them 10 years and 12 years be chasing [police] water cannon vehicles?”
Quizzed further by the committee: “What should the nation do…?” the minister answered: “what we should do is that we, the people at the top of affairs, should be very truthful to ourselves and say the truth regardless of the consequences.”
He also declined a request by the committee to assist them speak to the persons who gave him the video of the youth attacking the police water cannon.
“My Lord Chair, if I bring the person, it is going to make my management of security in this region difficult. It would mean that nobody should give me information or intelligence again.
“I have put all my numbers out there to the various radio stations that any time you have information, you can reach me on these numbers and people voluntarily give me information and that is going to cease. I am afraid; it will seriously affect my management of security in this region,” he said.
After a while, the Regional is going Minister gave a conditional promise that “I will speak to the person and if he agrees, I will bring him.”
Erastus Asare Donkor was the second and final witness of the day. He gave a detailed account of how one of the deceased persons shielded him and his team from the angry mob.
“When we got to the scene, the youth were angry, and so they told us not to film what was happening, but one of the protesters, now deceased, Nasiru Yussif, spoke to them in Hausa, and they calmed down. So he and another guy formed a ring around us, so we could perform our duties. He was very active, following us wherever we went.”
“So they now allowed us to film the demonstration. Some of them were holding sticks, others having knives, and others also wielding machetes. Some of them were also angrily chanting their anger at the death of Kaaka. Nasiru directed which path to go. At a point, he directed us to a storey building from which we could film.”
It has been widely reported that the youth of the area were carrying guns and other ammunitions but Asare Donkor said he only saw stones and machetes but no gun.
He also said he saw seven security officials firing shots at the scene. He dismissed suggestions from a member of the committee that the media could have exaggerated the incident.
“I saw seven military personnel who engaged in the shooting during the protest. Four came first, and later another three joined them.”
“The military initially started firing into the cloud, but later started firing into the protesters and some started falling and others retreating. The shooting went on for about 20 to 30 minutes.”
Asare Donkor did not accede to assertions that his station’s description of Macho Kaaka as a member of the #FixTheCountry crusade could have contributed to the disturbance.
The committee’s sitting continues today, July 7, 2021.
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