Women Demonstrators Paid 20,000 Cedis (7)

Yesterday, 15th July 2003, saw a handfull of women alleged to be mourning the over thirty women murdered under mysterious circumstances prior to the 2000 elections in Ghana, marching on the streets of Accra.

The women were expected to storm the private residence of the immediate past president, Jerry Rawlings. They were expected to demand from the former president to release the names of the NPP government officials who he alleged were behind the killings which made the NDC government unpopular at the time.

Indeed Mr. Odoi Sykes who is one of the top NPP officials and currently an Ambassador stated on a political platform that the killings would stop when NDC was voted out of power. The killings evetually stopped subsequently and this has so far been the only campaign promise which has been fulfilled by the NPP government since the NDC lost power two and a half years ago. This is the result of a self confessed killer who claimed responsibility for less than ten of the murders. This convicted murderer was subjected to a chemical interrogation test as well as lie detector equipment as admitted publicly by a top police officer. At the same time it was proclaimed that the killings were stopped as a result of the help of FBI expects from USA.

In a radio interview, the ex-president stood by his earlier claim that he could only reveal the identity of the NPP officials when the chemical interrogation facility is provided so that the truth would no longer be ambushed. Asking one of the participants of the demonstration, Madam Afua Asante the reason for the low turnout of the demonstration, she said most of the women refused to participate because the 20,000 cedis offered to them was just too small. She said she is a member of the Koforidua branch of NPP women movement. She said some of the women were also there just to see the former president whom they love so much and have missed for some time. Asked further, she said the march was not necessary against the background of economic harships that they have to endure these days.

The organizer, a known NPP woman and an Assemblywoman was expecting over 2,000 women for the demonstration.