Last Friday, the nation gave Major Maxwell Adam Mahama a befitting state burial. Tears flowed; the sermons and tributes were great. All that needed to be done in loving memory of the fallen soldier was done. But I am concerned that all the facts and truths surrounding his death have not been told and may never be told unless a special inquiry is set up to look into the matter.
My concerns have been heightened by an unrelated development, where some public officials have left me sorely disappointed and with my confidence in institutions of state to serve faithfully and sincerely, severely shaken.
This is not about the 13 kilogrammes of tested real gold that tuned into a fake one in the custody of the police nor the cocaine that turned into baking powder in the custody of the same Ghana police. I have learned to live with that. It is about officials of the new administration that was recently given the mandate to lead this nation because the previous one was believed to be corrupt beyond redemption.
Last week, the Minister for Tourism and Creative Arts, Catherine Afeku, appeared before Parliament to declare that investigations conducted by her ministry, show that the Kintampo Waterfalls tourist site was under the management of the Municipal Assembly when the fatal accident that killed some 20 students of the Wenchi Methodist Senior High School and the School of Mines and Natural Resources at Fiapre took place.
This is contrary to what we all know and confirmed by the very actors involved that the falls had been illegally taken over by New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group, Invincible Forces, and were in charge at the time of the disaster.
Back in March when the incident happened, a member of the Invincible Forces made it clear on radio that they had taken over the facility following the regime change in the 2016 general election. He confirmed that monies realised from management of the facility was paid to the deputy regional chairman of the party.
The account of the Invincible Forces spokesperson was corroborated by the Deputy General Secretary of the party, who justified the takeover by the Invincible Forces with the fact that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) members also took over the facility when regime changed in 2009.
With all these facts and truths in the public domain, it came as a real shock when the tourism minister insisted in her report to Parliament that the Invincible Forces had not taken over the facility at the time of the accident, simply because when her investigative team along with the media got there the Invincible Forces were not found.
Did the minister expect to find Invincible Forces who had illegally taken over the facility that had killed 20 people under their watch to be there waiting to be apprehended by her team?
My call for a special inquiry into the Major Mahama murder case is to generally avoid the twisting of obvious facts and truths to throw dust into the eyes of the good people of Ghana.
Second but more important reason why I think a special inquiry is required to get to the bottom of the matter is the link of the murder to Galamsey or illegal mining in the area where the Major Mahama was on “operational duty.” In my previous take on this matter, I called for invitation of some key witnesses that are yet to be invited by the police to help with their investigations.
The suspended District Chief Executives (DCE) and the immediate past one, who have both said a lot of things worth investigating in their media engagements since the murder occurred must be given the opportunity to say all they know about the matter particularly as regard to mining, both legal and illegal in the area.
Care must, however, be taken when setting up this special investigation. Their terms of reference (tor) must be clear. If the old story of “adverse finding and double jeopardy” would be raised to prevent them from prosecution, then the TOR must be clearly defined a fact finding one that may not be used by any of the accused as an escape route.
Finally, each and every one who contributed to the lynching of Major Mahama must get their fair share of punishment. Even if it is just standing there and watching without taking any action to prevent the lynching, that is the one and surest way of getting Ghanaians off the tendency to lynch people alleged to have committed crimes without giving them a hearing.
May Major Mahama’s blood not be shared in vain. And may his gentle soul rest in peace!
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