The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has joined the condemnation of the violence that occurred during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.
The association in a statement said elections should be viewed as an avenue “of expressing our opinion and choosing our leaders.”
“When such violent incidence occurs, several people who otherwise were healthy sustain serious injuries that put stress on our already over-stretched and under-resourced health delivery systems and in some cases adversely affect our emergency services.”
The GMA also urged Ghanaians to “exercise restraint and rather focus on fostering peaceful elections at all times to ensure that the development of this country is sustained.”
The government has since set up a Commission of Inquiry to probe the incident in which some security personnel are seen brutalising some citizen.
There was a shooting incident near a La Bawaleshie polling centre that temporarily disrupted the polls and resulted in at least 13 persons sustaining injuries.
The terms of reference of the Commission are:
- 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 day of January 2019;
- To identify any person responsible for or who has been involved in the events, associated violence and injuries;
- To 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
- To submit within one month its report to the President giving reasons for its findings and recommendations, including appropriate sanctions, if any.
A former Commissioner at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short has been appointed as Chairperson of the Commission while former Dean of the Faculty of Law of GIMPA and private legal practitioner, Mr. Ernest Kofi Abotsi has been appointed as Secretary to the Commission.
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By: citinewsroom.com | Ghana