Kofi Abotsi, Secretary to the Justice Emile Short Commission tasked by the President to probe into circumstances leading to the violence that occurred at the Ayawaso West Wuogun constituency has disclosed that the refusal of the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress to appear before it did not in any way hamper the quality of the final report.
Kofi Abotsi speaking on PM Express on JoyNews was insistent that the Commission after a certain time, fund no need of the General Secretary and the NDC party hence their reluctance to issuing a summons.
The Commissions Secretary clarified that the activities of the party on the said day were somewhat detailed to the commission by some of the party members who made an appearance at the Commission like Sam George, Ningo
Prampram MP and the NDC Parliamentary candidate for the election who subsequently lost, Delali Brempong.
He explained that the parties were initially deemed appropriate to come before the commission because the Commission estimated that it will obtain vital information into their activities in relation to using vigilantes but the output of NPP’s General Secretary suggested that party positions were going to be espoused.
The final report, Kofi Abotsi intimated adequately addresses the issues and scope and makes proposals relevant to the issue of political party militia and the way forward.
The private legal practitioner detailed, “We had the power to compel him to come and we had to make a decision whether we still needed to compel him to come in light of a variety of reasons. First of all don’t forget that even the winner of the Ayawaso West Wuogun constituency election wasn’t invited.
She was invited but she wasn’t ultimately heard. There was no evidential importance for her. The reason for that is that the Commission has been going through a process of examining, reexamining and reviewing it on invitees. We think that you are relevant today but in light of how things have panned out, in light of evidence in light of testimony given before us, in light of new facts gathered, we think that your testimony has been rendered if you like negatory by reason of previous testimony or other people”.
Kofi Abotsi, however, quickly observed that the NDC corporated in some way with the Commission through their correspondence which at every point stated their position.
He said the commission respected the position of the NDC and the General Secretary.
The former Dean of Law School at GIMPA also clarified some allegations levelled against the Commission by one of the witnesses who suggests the Commission failed to go by the agreement prior to his appearance.
Paul Adom-Octhere, host of Good Evening Ghana and a top official at Metro TV alleged on his show backed by screenshots of messages exchanged on WhatsApp by the Secretary of the Commission and himself that the Commission for reasons best known to them refused to allow him to express himself and share his thoughts on the topic as previously agreed.
But Kofi Abotsi dismissed his assertions and insisted that the conversation only centered on negotiating for an appropriate date for him to appear and not necessary arrangements on the substance of his submission.
He explained that Paul Adom-Otchere didn’t fall into any of the categories under which the Commission was inviting the witnesses and hence applauded his willingness to appear before it but at that point considered his testimony immaterial.
In his response to the allegations recounted to him during the interview, Secretary to the Commission detailed “There was never an agreement with any witness. I had an interaction with Paul Adom-Otchere prior to his appearance before the Commission and the reason I had prior interaction and engagement with him on the phone, which was the only person I had prior interaction with, was because Mr Paul Adom-Otchere had difficulty coming on a certain date, so I was trying to give him a concession in terms of which other date he will appear. Now we had a packed schedule because of our time frame and a difficult in trying to adjust or switch him and that explains the back and forth WhatsApp exchanges I had with him. I haven’t really listened to the tape on which those allegations or WhatsApp messages were shown but if there were accurately reproduced then I will not make any further comments on them except to say that they will speak for themselves.”
The Commission surprised many by meeting the one-month timeline set by the President for the Commission to complete its investigation.
President Akufo-Addo says he is committed to ending the menace of political militia and expressed optimism that the Commission did a good job and he too will work on it assiduously to ensure the right measures a taken.
By: Jonah Eledi/awakenewsonline.com
