My presence in Ejura would have made matters worse – MCE
Alhaji Salisu Bamba, the Municipal Chief Executive for Ejura Sekyedumase, says his presence at Ejura on June 29, would have worsened the disturbances that claimed the lives of two civilians during a violent protest.
Answering a question from the Chairman of the Committee probing the Ejura shooting incident as to why he did not return to Ejura on the day of the incident, he said that could have worsened the situation on the ground.
This, according to him, was because of his alleged close association with the two suspects who had been arrested by the police in connection with the murder.
He said the Ejura Township had already been polarised after the 2020 elections, and listening to interviews granted to media stations by some people, it was clear that the youth in the community had been instigated against the police and political leaders in the Municipality.
“Looking at the circumstances and the polarisation of the issue, I heeded to the advice given to me by the security personnel on the ground not to return to Ejura on that fateful day,” he told the Committee.
He said the two persons arrested in connection with the murder of Kaaka were not his body guards as had been speculated in the media.
Mr. Bamba however said the two were members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as Kaaka was and they have all been coming to him frequently as an MCE and the party’s parliamentary candidate for the Constituency.
Kaaka, he said, was a strong NPP member in the Constituency and that the party vehicle conveyed his body from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to Ejura for burial.
Meanwhile, three persons have been remanded by the Asokwa District Court following their arrest over Kaaka’s death.
Issakar Ibrahim, also known as Anyas, Fuseini Alhassan and Iddi Mohammed, the brother of Kaaka, are facing two charges – conspiracy to commit crime and murder.
Abdul-Nasir Yussif, 26, and Mutala Mohammed, 25, died from gunshots during a violent protest that erupted following the burial of Kaaka.
The three-member Ministerial Committee investigating the Ejura disturbances, is chaired by Justice George Kingsley Koomson, a Court of Appeal Judge, with Mr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, a security analyst and Ms Juliet Adiema Amoah, Executive Director of Penplusbyte, a civil society organisation, as members.
The sittings, which started on July 6, are held at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi.
The Committee has 10 days to present its report after their investigations.
Source: GNA