No Immunity

The Minister of Government Business, Hon. Joseph Henry Mensah last Monday dropped hints that not all cases of wrong doings in the past would be considered under the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

One of such cases according to Hon. Mensah who is also the Majority Leader in Parliament, is the gruesome murder of three High Court Judges and a retired Army Officer on June 30th 1982.

The Majority Leader disclosed this in an interview on a JOY FM Breakfast programme hosted by Komla Dumor.

In the opinion of the Minister of Government Business, the nature and the circumstances surrounding that gruesome act are such that it would be prudent for the courts to consider that particular case if need be.

"It may be difficult to contain the murdered judges' case under the ambit of conciliation", Hon. Mensah disclosed adding "there will be no immunity for such people".

In the opinion of the Hon. Minister, although the Reconciliation Commission may not necessarily be about the murdered judges' case and any other act similar to that of the June 30th heinous act, any other act like the stripping of women and the beating of innocent people by the military during the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) period from 1979 to 1992 warrant investigations by the proposed Reconciliation Commission.

He did not subscribe to suggestions in certain quarters that the time frame within which the Commission should work should be restricted to the two regimes over which former President Rawlings presided.

Former President Rawlings made a first appearance on the Ghanaian political scene through a bloody coup d'etat in 1979 under AFRC.

His second appearance was in 1981 when he overthrew the constitutional government of Dr. Hilla Limann under the PNDC.

According to the Majority Leader who is also the MP for Suyani East, the proposed time frame of 1979 to '92 should not be changed.

Although people have reservations about the first and second republics, Hon. Mensah believes the laws were working at the time and people had access to the courts.

"People were not subjected to brute force in the constitutional regimes like they were when constitutions were overthrown", he said.

He however charged that anybody who had substantive evidence that some brute force was exerted on him could present his or her petition to the Commission for redress and added that "if people also feel strongly about the 1966 coup for instance and there is the need to investigate, then the case should be investigated".

Hon. Mensah also said the Commission would be given a time frame within which to complete its work and can only comply by the terms of the period if its activities are clearly defined.

The Minister allayed the fears of those who believe the Truth Commission would be used to settle old and personal scores.

"People appointed to serve on the Commission should do their job with circumspection and should be people who could usefully serve on the board for people to have confidence in them", he declared.

On allegations that members of the current government spent a lot on foreign trips, this is what Hon. Mensah had to say: "There are always rules and regulations regarding the use of state funds in travelling. There are Civil Servants who administer the law properly and are in a better position to know whether monies used for official travels are expensive".

He again declared: "We need money to help the people and if we are to travel to seek money to help the people then I think it is not bad".

However he observed that "if it is just galavanting, then it is a problem. If you have people using peoples' money for their own purpose then call them to book".

He gave his personal view on the private financial institution-PYRAM which in 1995 duped hundreds of Ghanaians millions of cedis.

"The scandal should not die . People with interest should revisit it. They should start legal processes to revive it . It has economic consequence and it should not be swept under the carpet", Hon. Mensah declared.