Mobillah's Killers Vanish

The Attorney General’s office is sitting on several dockets

The murder of the Northern Regional Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Alhaji Issah Mobillah, is still fresh in the minds of his family and friends, as the political temperature heats up towards election 2008.

But the case seems to have died a silent death, due to the failure of the Attorney General’s Department to direct the prosecution of the two military men who allegedly beat him to death.

While some military sources have confirmed that the case has been transferred from a Tamale High Court to Accra for further investigation, relatives and friends of Mobilla say the soldiers were simply moved to Accra to be set free.

Following on that, Public Agenda has gathered that the solders have been released from remand and have been reintegrated into the army. A senior army officer in Tamale, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed that the accused persons have been transferred to Tema and Takoradi respectively to escape the eyes of the public and human rights activists. He, however, refused to name the units they have been moved to.

Explaining further, the senior officer said he was very much aware that it was for the purpose of freeing the accused that well armed soldiers were always dispatched to court premises to intimidate the public during the short-lived trial of the case.

“Some of us are not happy about the way people talk bad about the military and I can’t understand why our big men would try to protect the few bad nuts among us. To me, the law should have taken its course to serve as deterrent to some of us”, he said.

A similar case involving the beating to death of Evans Kusi by two military men last year is also still awaiting prosecution, thanks to the delay by the Attorney General’s Department.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Strategic Youth Association, comprising several youth groups drawn mainly from the NDC and CPP on Tuesday 11th March, 2008 organized a press conference, calling on human right organizations and the government, to revisit the case.

Mr. Abdullai.B. Y. Abdul Rauf, secretary of the association, stated at the press conference that, it is a fact that Alhaji Mobilla died out of military brutalities, because the autopsy performed by Dr. Kwaku Adomako Boateng suggested that the cause of his death was due to the collapse of the lung, fractured ribs and severe multiple abrasions, which could only result from acts of violence.

Details of the report said he had multiple abrasions in the upper part of his chest, just above the nipples and fore arms. “We want to know how come Alhaji Mobilla had these fractured ribs and abrasions all over his body. Did he resist arrest or did he engage the military in a fight of his life”?

The strategic youth group also stated that, as a human being and a Ghanaian in particular Alhaji Mobilla deserved some dignity. They reminded President Kuffour of paragraph seven of his first sectional address to Parliament, which reads, “the world stands in admiration of our achievement and this should encourage us in our path of deepening and consolidating democracy under a regime of respect of human rights and the rule of law”, and wondered whether Mobilla did not deserve the same rights.

The group called on president Kufuor to take personal interest in the case by making sure that justice is done to the late Alhaji Mobila to soothe the pains of his family.