A-G advised against prosecution of Policeman - Witness

Kumasi, Sept. 15, GNA - A Witness on Monday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) that the Attorney-General's Department advised against the prosecution of a Policeman, who shot at him in 1983 with the excuse that the case had delayed.

The Witness Isaac Owusu Boateng, a Trader in Kumasi, said bullets from the shot fired by Sergeant Patrick Kofi Kuzornu pierced through his stomach from the back to hit another person, one Nyame, who was killed instantly.

The bullets also injured two others in their legs. Boateng was giving evidence at the resumed public hearings of the Commission at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) hall in Kumasi.

He said he had gone to the Kumasi Central Market on June 1, 1983 to display his goods when all of a sudden, "I was lifted off my feet and fell on the ground.

"I passed out for about three minutes and when I regained consciousness, I saw blood coming out of the stomach with the intestines gushing out".

The Witness said he mustered courage and pushed back the intestines and cried out for help.

He said three unarmed soldiers, who were drawn to the scene, rushed him to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he was kept on admission for 28 days.

"I bore all medical expenses by myself and did not either receive any compensation or apology from any quarters."

In answer to a question, Boateng said he petitioned the Attorney - General's Department and attached copies of both the medical and Police reports to his petition.

"My lord, the Attorney-General, however, said the five years it took me to make the petition, was too long and for that matter, the Policeman should not be prosecuted."

The Witness said, he had been advised by doctors not "to either lift any heavy load or do any hard work".

He is asking the Commission to recommend some compensation to enable him to take care of his children, four of whom are in second cycle and basic schools.

Mr Justice Amuah-Sekyi, Chairman of the Commission, could not hide his disappointment with the manner the Witness was treated. He said the Attorney - General's Department showed insensitivity by declining to act on Boateng's petition.

"We do not expect such conduct from our governments. I think you are right in coming to the Commission, we will look at what we can do to assist you," he said.

Madam Afriyie Ibrahim, a Kumasi Trader, said she had a miscarriage three days after severe flogging by soldiers in 1982. "They ignored pleadings that I was four months' pregnant and pushed me on a large table, held both legs and hands and lashed me on all parts of the body with canes."

She said her ordeal did not end after receiving several strokes of the cane as she was also made to clear weeds with her bare hands and took two hefty slaps, which the soldiers termed "good bye slaps". The Witness said she had gone to open her shop at the Kumasi Central Market one morning when all of a sudden two armed soldiers and four ladies entered.

The ladies pointed to my sister, who was with me at the time and the soldiers ordered her to follow them.

"When I inquired about what was happening, they used the muzzle of the weapon to hit me and told me to also follow them."

She said they were taken to the Fourth Battalion of Infantry (4BN), where they subjected them to the "most disgraceful" treatment. Her sister, Abena Asantewaah corroborated her story, saying she was also admitted at the hospital for two weeks after the flogging. She was at the time nursing an 11-month-old baby.

Mr Christian Appiah-Agyei, one of the Commissioners, said all men should be ashamed of what the soldiers did to the women in those fiery days of the revolution.

Alhaji Zakari Bawa, a Businessman, told the Commission that he was unlawfully sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and had his property, including a house and three vehicles, confiscated in 1984 by a public tribunal chaired by Mr George Agyekum at Obuasi.

He said he was falsely accused of "dishonest acquisition of property".

Alhaji Bawa said he was released from jail after serving two-and- a-half years of his sentence on grounds of ill health.

He told the Commission that he was in the house at Obuasi in May 1984 and at about 0200 hours there was a bang on his door.

"When I opened, I saw that the house had been invaded by gun wielding soldiers. They woke up everybody in the house and gathered us all in front of a mosque I had built near my house."

Alhaji Bawa said they later bundled him into a military truck after searching all the rooms in the house and drove him to the Obuasi Secondary/Technical School, where he was kept with about 200 other people for one month.

He said he was finally put before a tribunal where he was asked to explain how he came by his wealth.

The petitioner said he told the tribunal that he started operating a corn mill in 1975, the returns on which he invested in maize and an oil palm plantation at Akatiso.

Besides, "I had a rice farm at Tamale and was a member of the Rice Growers Association.

"The tribunal never bothered to check on these facts but took me to my house where Agyekum signalled to the soldiers to loot everything including even the bed on which I slept."

Alhaji Bawa said what he found "more painful, annoying and nauseating is that I was made to pay rent on the four rooms I occupy with my family in my own house".

When the Alhaji got to this point in his narration, he was overcome by emotion, could no longer hold back his tears and wept bitterly.

He told the Commission that he felt relieved having had the opportunity to tell his story.

Alhaji Bawa is asking the NRC to assist him get back at least his house so that "my children will live in their own father's house." Mr Charles Kofi Sedefia, a carpenter at Anloga in Kumasi, said he was in 1960 arrested and detained without charge for six years. At the time of his arrest, he was 17 years and was a student at the Asante Collegiate.

The Witness said his long detention in Usher Fort Prisons had resulted in an impairment of his vision.

For six months, "I was not allowed to have a wash and was fed on gari".

He is asking the Commission to help him to get compensation for the unlawful detention that ruined his education and left him with an eye problem.

Another Witness, an 87-year-old Mason and Farmer from Boanim, near Asante-Mampong, Opanin Akwasi Acheampong said he was detained for five years and three months in 1960 for insulting Dr Kwame Nkrumah, an accusation, he vehemently denied. "My statement was neither taken nor was I put before any court."

He said he returned from prison only to shockingly realise that his wife had been married to another man.

The Witness said he at that time had seven children with the wife and resolved never to marry again.

"I gave up my life to God".

Opanin Acheampong is asking the Commission to assist him to receive some financial compensation to lead a decent life for his remaining years on earth.

Sitting continues on Tuesday.