General News of Saturday, 16 June 2012

Source: Daily Guide

Kunbuor Exposed Over Gunshot!

The plot is thickening by the day, with regard to the controversial June 2010 shooting of Dr Benjamin Kunbour, the current Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

Political observers are ascribing all sorts of interpretations to the incident as Dr Kunbuor himself is increasingly becoming a suspect in the deadly shooting saga.

These wild interpretations are festering because the Police investigators and Dr. Kunbour have completely divergent explanations as to what happened on the fateful night of June 28, 2010 when Dr Kunbour’s VW Passat with registration number GR 4656 10 was allegedly shot at.

In fact, when the incident happened, Dr. Kunbour was said to have lodged a complaint with the police that he was marked for assassination.

Yet, recently, a combination of a damning expose from his predecessor, former Attorney General Martin Amidu and a police report after extensive ballistic and forensic investigations in July 2010, revealed that the gunshot came from Dr. Kunbour’s own gun, and contrary to earlier reports, the bullet’s trajectory showed that it was fired by the one seated at the driver’s side of the VW Passat.

Indeed, when pressed to comment on the issue by DAILY GUIDE in a telephone conversation in March 2012, Dr. Kunbour denied possessing a weapon.

“I don’t carry a weapon,” he told the newspaper. He also denied ever reporting to the police that he was marked for assassination.

However, according to a police report signed by Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Commissioner of Police (COP) Prosper Kwame Agblor, the gun was taken from Dr Kunbuor for their analysis.

“I return herewith, one Jericho 941PSL Pistol… from Dr Benjamin Kunbuor for investigations.

“Investigations have been concluded and the Ballistic report is attached for further action,” said the report sent to the Inspector General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye, dated August 4, 2010.

Dr. Kunbour’s predecessor at the Attorney General’s office and now the popular anti-corruption crusader, Martin Amidu, tagged with the nickname “Citizen Vigilante”, recently raised doubts about the integrity of Dr. Kunbour.

The bizarre incident, which is shrouded in an unknown motive, has caused Mr. Amidu to question Dr. Kunbour’s capacity to effectively execute some key cases for government, including the famous GH¢51.2million Woyomegate judgment debt scandal.

“As to me relying on the Attorney-General’s integrity to handle the case with honesty, I am unable to do so because any lawyer in public office who is shown by police investigation to have manufactured an assassination attempt on himself is not worth the high moral character and proven integrity for that quasi judicial office.”

In the ensuing furore that has generated intense public debate, Dr. Kunbour has generally remained silent.

In the police report of 2010 signed by Government Analyst and Superintendent of Police Raymond Simpi, and corroborated by Mr. Amidu, it stated that the gun was fired by Dr. Kunbour’s Israeli-made 9mm pistol, a Jericho 941 PSL with registration number 38319751.

According to the report, “The trajectory of the bullet was found to have travelled from the driver’s section through the windscreen to the right.”

According to Superintendent Simpi, the bullet hole from critical examination was found to have its entry point on the front windscreen from inside, contrary to what Dr. Kunbour would have people believe when he lodged his complaint with the police after the incident.

It is believed that this overhanging smudge over the image of Dr. Kumbour may have been exploited by the Mills government in granting him the Attorney General’s office at a critical time when the government and its officials are being blamed over supposed judgment debts.

James Kwabena Bonfeh, a parliamentary aspirant for the Convention People’s Party (CPP) for Kintampo North, was quoted on Oman FM on last Wednesday’s morning show as saying that Dr. Kunbour was “blackmailed” into taking the Attorney General’s office to cover up the “gargantuan” corruption in the Mills government, as stated by Martin Amidu.

This issue, like the infamous Woyome scandal, is refusing to fade into the horizon and seems to remain on the burner as the crucial 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections approaches.