Maverick Lawyer Dr. Maurice Ampaw has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to extend the endowment fund set up for dependants of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama of the 5th Infantry Battalion (5BN) to other victims of mob justice in the country.
“There president should eschew the hypocrisy and extend same support to other victims who have suffered same fate like the late soldier. It should not be a situation of selective justice. The law must not always favour the rich”, he said on Agoo TV’s Nyansapo hosted by Kwaku Owusu Adjei.
While insisting that failure by the president to set up similar funds for the other victims amounts to selective amnesia, he indicated that it was also their right to be given such support as they are breadwinners in their respective communities.
The president prior to his departure for the G-20 summit in Belgium announced that government had set up an endowment fund of GH¢500, 000 for the education of Adams Mahama’s children which has been lauded by many.
He was said to have personally contributed GH¢50, 000 towards the fund.
There are however concerns over benefits dependents of other victims who were killed in similar fashion with some civil society organizations and individuals stating “how much do they plan to give to the families of Yenboka Keena, the 67-year-old woman who was stoned to death in Pelungu for witchcraft. How about the family of the policeman killed on duty by a patrol team. Oh and the man who lynched for stealing a mobile phone in Kumasi? Or they do not matter because they are not of privileged birth? Adams Mahama’s death is tragic and his family deserves all the support they can get, but he has an employer, what is the standard rate for soldiers who die in service?
This ad hoc and ill-thought decisions explain the state of our nation. Always throwing money and promises at problems that require careful thinking, planning, and implementation.”
Lawyer Maurice Ampaw who share in the concerns, want immediate steps taken to also compensate them in one way or the other because they are also citizens and deserve some form of support.