NRC hears Witnesses from Western and Central Regions

Sekondi, Aug. 5, GNA - The killing of some soldiers, who were suspected to be in the camp of Corporal Halidu Giwa at the military barracks at Apremdo; unlawful seizure of property and military brutality were some of the stories told at maiden sitting of the National Reconciliation Commission at Sekondi on Tuesday.
Madam Margaret Darko, 51, told the Commission of how in March 1984 her late husband, Corporal James Ankomah was taken away by some soldiers and was not seen alive again.
She said his body was later discovered in a shallow grave at Kasoa and was conveyed to the 37 Military Hospital and later buried with full military honours at Dormaa Ahenkro, his hometown.
Madam Darko said she returned from her piggery at the Takoradi Airport Ridge to be told by her children that some soldiers came to their house and took their father away without telling them where they were going. It was two days later that she heard rumours that her husband, popularly called "Toro", had been found dead in his car.
Madam Darko said she was told that one Corporal Bonsu was part of the group that killed her husband. The group took away all their property including her jewellery; 1,000 dollars, 150,000 CFA francs, 50 pieces of cloth and a car bought for her by her brother then resident in Italy.
When she contacted Corporal Bonsu on the issue he held her hand twisted it and inflicted injuries on her.
She said three months later some of the items were returned to her but in very bad state.
Answering questions from members of the Commission she said it was Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), who identified her husband's body at the 37 Military Hospital.
She also said W.O. I Adjei Buadi, who introduced himself to her as the PNDC second in command, consoled her and said a photograph of her husband was found in the pocket of Giwa and that might be the basis for his arrest.
She said she did not believe the story since her husband was not a friend to Corporal Giwa.
Another witness, Nana Awiepong, a Fisherman of Komenda, who appeared on behalf of Adwoa Badu, his auntie who is indisposed, said his auntie was married to Mr Kwame Bartels, a Security Officer to Dr Kwame Nkrumah when his government was overthrown in 1966.
He said during the coup Madam Badu's only son, Kwamina Bartels Junior alias Paapa Atta, 17, was killed by some soldiers.
Her husband was on Dr Nkrumah's entourage to Hanoi when the coup took place and he followed the late President to Guinea. She asked for compensation to enable her to lead decent life before her death. Mr Joseph Kofi Essilfie, also known as Kwame Bartels, who represented his father, George Bartles, told the Commission that soldiers killed Paapa Atta during the coup that overthrew the First Republic and together with others was buried in a mass grave.
The soldiers looted everything in the house and took away a taxi. The next person to appear before the Commission was Madam Mary Blay the wife of one Ernest Kwadjo Gyan, a Security Officer at Flagstaff House, during the First Republic.
She recounted how their house opposite the Flagstaff House was shelled during the coup and the difficulties residents went through.
She said her husband was taken away by soldiers and was not seen again and that during the coup the area was littered with dead bodies most of them security personnel.
Mr Thomas Maclean, a Timber Contractor, appealed to the NRC to include in its proposals the introduction of compulsory military training for all 18 year-old youths in the country as part of their National Service. He said such a service would instil discipline, courage and the desire to resist any coup in the country.
Mr Maclean said the ordeal he went through at the hands of some young military officers at the Burma Camp made him to regret his nationalistic ideas about the country.
He said the military must understand that they did not govern and urged the government to call a referendum to make coups punishable by death.
Mr Maclean said he was living with his Landlady, Mrs Nancy Ocran when he was told on February 7 1982 by Kwesi Ocran, a relation of the Landlady that he was wanted by the military because he was suspected of dealing in "Kalabule" goods.
Mr Maclean said Ocran told him that he would be arrested, killed and his tractor burnt for using it to convey the alleged goods and suggested that he should run away.
He said Esi, another sister of Mrs Ocran, also informed him that the military would conduct a house-to-house search and pleaded with Maclean to remove all his vehicle parts and other goods he kept in their store. Mr Maclean said he collected the items made up of a hydraulic jack, a new monkey jack, two drums and a tin of white wash paint, several windscreens and sent them to his own store at Tanokrom in Takoradi for safe keeping but all these items were confiscated.
He said he hid in a forest for four days and when the military went to his shop and he could not be traced his mechanic, Arthur Mends, alias Red, was severely beaten, resulting in his death five months later. Mr Maclean said he later came out of hiding and petitioned the then complaints department of the Ministry of Defence where some soldiers told him that ''all elderly people should have been killed''.
Mr Maclean told the Commission that he did not like the revolution but had to use flattery words such as "Long live the revolution and long live the PNDC" to get his properties released to him but still nothing came out of it.
He suggested that the military should be engaged in agriculture, road construction and bridge building, to make them more productive and active "since there is no war awaiting us".
Bishop Charles Palmer-Buckle, advised Ghanaians to educate their children and grand children that "whether gun or no gun, we must stand up for the truth, no matter the consequences".
He appealed to all to be firm in their resolutions and resist whatever is not fair in the society.
Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu said courage; discipline and resistance should not only be gained through military training. She appealed to parents to spend more time training their children from childhood instead of waiting to train them on the use of a gun.
Mr Emmanuel Earl Kumi Jr, who represented his father Earl Kumi, said his late father worked at the Effia Nkwanta Hospital at Sekondi.
He said on November 18 1982 his father; mother and he left for their farm at Adiembra but had to leave the farm early with his mother to prepare supper for his father, who usually stayed late.
Mr Kumi said at about 1830 hours when his father had not returned the household thought he had gone to see some of his friends.
He said they heard gunshots and one Mr Osei, a Naval Officer, rushed into their house and informed them that he had seen his father lying at a nearby school park with gun shot wounds at Kweikuma and the entire family rushed to the scene.
Mr Kumi said his father was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital and though an autopsy was performed on him the family had not seen the report.
Mr Kumi said all the six children of his late father could not further their education and most of them are still unemployed, while their father's Social Security Contribution has not been paid. The NRC told him that they would assist the family to collect their father's SSNIT contributions.
Earlier Mr Justice Amua Sakyi, advised the audience to be patient with all persons, who would appear before the Commission.
He reminded them that the incidents that do appear before the Commission are not stories but real cases of abuses, torture, and humiliation and should serve as a reminder to all.
Justice Amua-Sakyi urged them not to cry or laugh extensively since such practices would retard the Commission's work. 05 Aug. 03

NPOL 12 Political NRC Sittings 5 Sekondi Madam Sophia Manteaw, a Seamstress, told the sitting that her father Mischack Lord Manteaw was in the house one morning in 1982 with the family when armed soldiers stormed the house, apparently looking for one Mr Corangle, who was living opposite their house. They mistook his father for Mr Corangle and grabbed him. They threw little Manteaw who was then five years old and was in the arms of her father against a nim tree in front of the house. Miss Manteaw said when her mother tried to prevent the soldiers from taking her husband away she was hit on the neck with the butt of a gun and she collapsed. She said her father was shot a few metres away from the house. Mad Manteaw said her grandmother who was at the scene took her father to the hospital and was operated upon and died. Later soldiers went to the house and informed the family that it was Mr Corangle the group were looking for and not Mr Manteaw. No compensation was paid to the family. Miss Manteaw told the Commission that her mother had not recovered from the injuries she sustained on her neck, experiences severe pains in the waist and cannot sit for long hours. She named Andrews Kwabena Asuo-Prah as one of the soldiers who shot his father and that he was later executed.

Mr Joseph Yinye, a resident at Effiakuma and formerly working with the Pioneer Tobacco Company (PTC), said during the 31st December coup, he decided to travel but later rescinded his decision because he realized he could not beat the curfew hours that had been imposed. When he returned to the house he found his wife making brooms for sale inside their fenced house.

Mr Yinye said just a few minutes later he heard someone knocking on his gate and thinking that it was one of his friends, opened it. He said he met four men dressed in black with their faces covered and one of them dressed in military uniform holding a gun.

Mr Yinye said he became frightened on seeing the group but the one dressed in military uniform, without any provocation, shot him. He said the bullets entered his left hand, came out and hit his wife who was nursing a three-day-old baby. His wife died instantly. The incident happened in the presence of four of his seven children and said he had to give the new baby to his mother who was on a visit.

Mr Yinye said while on admission at the hospital he learnt that a sergeant of the Ghana Air Force was responsible for the incident because the bullet used led to the arrest of the culprit.

He said even though his employers reported the incident to the Air Force no compensation had been paid to him.

Bishop Charles Palmer-Buckle, expressed his appreciation to Mr Yinye for telling the nation the ordeal he went through. He urged all Ghanaians who have cases of human rights abuses, tortures and any complaint to report to the NRC.

Madam Mary Larbi, a resident of Kojokrom, told the commission that she used to sell cloth but stopped in the early part of 1972 while her husband Mr. Samuel E. Tonto continued trading in his store near the Ghana Food Distribution Corporation (GFDC) in Takoradi. She said her husband sold flour, sugar, and car battery and received his weekly allocation of 400 bags of flour from the Takoradi flourmills.

Madam Larbi said one day he failed to return home from work and the driver informed her that her husband had been arrested and sent to the Air Force Station by soldiers. Earlier in the day, Mr Tonto had responded to an announcement from the military that any trader who needed the assistance of soldiers to sell his wares could contact them. She said some soldiers came to assist in selling part of the wares in the store but a second group of soldiers, who came to assist in selling the items, beat Mr. Tonto and later collected all the items in the store and took him away.

Madam Larbi said they put Mr Tonto in one of the military trucks, packed fish on him and put cigarette ashes into his ears while they were on their way to the Air Force Station. He was beaten with the butt of a gun and made to drink water from a nearby drainage.

She said for five days, Mr Tonto was kept at the Air Force Station but was released to go home and gather the necessary papers on his business and report at the Apremdo barracks. He had several wounds on his back, ears and his face was swollen but on Monday he left for Apremdo barracks where he was kept in the guardroom for three months.

He was later transferred to the Peduase Lodge, tried and jailed for five years for selling "kalabule goods."

Madam Larbi said her husband and others were released after one-year imprisonment at the Nsawam Prisons.

Madam Larbi said due to the severe financial state in which they were they had to sell all their personal belongings.

She said about eight years ago Mr Tonto left home at dawn on a visit to Accra and had since not returned though he is still alive.

"He feels disgraced that a woman should look after him and his own children", she said.

Bishop Palmer-Buckle advised all married couples to rely on each other and appealed to Mr. Tonto wherever he is to return home and console his wife. 05 Aug 03