Jubilee House has released a largely dismissive white paper on the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry into the December 2017 violence that marred the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.
Among aspects that have been rejected, include recommendations for the prosecution of a personnel of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the Ghana Police, who assaulted a sitting Member of Parliament.
According to the Akufo-Addo government, Mohammed Sulemana was very justified in slapping Hon. Sam George Nettey because he had done so in self defense.
The white paper argued that the facts presented by the Short commission supported “a valid defense of provocation for the said assault [by Mohammed Sulemana].”
In the wake of the government’s position, questions have been asked as to whether the government is justifying the fact that an officer of the law had taken the law into his own hands and administered justice on his own terms.
It would be recalled that as part of the highlights of the marred by-election, in Ayawaso West Wuogon, Hon. Sam George Nettey had been slapped by Mr. Sulemana.
The assault had been recorded on a phone camera and resultant footage had gone viral drawing condemnation from the public. Hon. Sam George would later narrate that before the slap, the security man had warned him to stop complaining about violence being meted out against NDC members or be shot.
“He told me that if I did not shut up there was something called ‘stray bullet,’” Sam George had narrated in a radio interview after that.
Both the Ningo Prampram MP and his assailant would later appear before the Short Commission to give evidence, after which the Commission would give recommendations, among which the prosecution of the SWAT personnel who threw the slap.
However, the Government’s white paper on the issue has rejected the recommendation, saying the officer rightfully defended himself.
The government also disagreed with the commissions finding that “there is a lack of clarity of responsibility and roles as well as lines of reporting,” in the National Security apparatus.
It cited the Constitution and the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, 1996 which “spell out clearly the responsibilities and roles of the various offices within the national security establishment.”
Jubilee House however accepted that National Security officer Ernest Akomea, alias Double, the man who was said to have been key to the spark of the confusion that led to the shooting of several civilians must be prosecuted for the unauthorized possession of firearms under subsection (1) of section 192 of the Criminal Offences Act.
The White Paper also announced government’s position that victims from the shooting should be compensated.