The three-member ministerial committee tasked by the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, on the orders of the President to investigate the disturbances recorded at Ejura in the Ashanti Region last week, has scheduled its first sitting for Tuesday, July 6, 2021.
The sittings are expected to be held at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi at 10: 00 am each day.
This was announced in a press statement signed by Ms. Marie Louise Simmons, the Media Liaison Officer for the committee, on Monday, July 5, 2021.
The members of the committee; Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice George Kingsley Koomson [Chairman of the committee], Security Analyst, Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, and the Executive Director of Penplusbytes, Juliet Adiema Amoah are expected to receive evidence from witnesses to ascertain the cause of the disturbances.
The committee is however expected to submit its report to the government within 10-days.
Committee begins preparatory works
Meanwhile, the committee has begun preparatory arrangements for its sitting on Tuesday. The committee will sit every day except on Sunday.
The three-member committee met the Ejura Traditional Council, the leadership of the Zongo Community, and affected families.
Speaking to journalists, Chairman of the Committee, His Lordship Justice George Kingsley Koomson, said an invitation has been extended to some witnesses.
He also urged persons with evidence to turn up at the sitting to assist the committee.
Background
The President’s directive for the setting up of the committee followed the killing of two people and the injuring of four others by soldiers during a protest against the killing of a social activist, Ibrahim Muhammed.
The deceased, alias Macho Kaaka, died on Monday, June 28, 2021, after he was attacked by a mob while returning home on his motorbike on Sunday at Ejura.
He’s alleged to have been killed because of his social activism, which some persons felt was making the government unpopular.
The 45-year-old was noted to be vocal on both local and national issues using his Facebook page.
His family says he had faced threats over his activism prior to the attack.
He was rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital and later referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he died at midday on June 28.
Police in the Ashanti Region have since arrested three persons in connection with his death and put them before the court.
Ibrahim Muhammed was buried on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, alongside the two others who died in the protest.
Meanwhile, one of the four injured persons, a sixteen-year-old boy, has had one of his legs amputated at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.