We Will Compensate Victims Of Ayawaso West Wuogon Violence - Mahama

The Former President John Mahama says the National Democratic Congress will ensure all all compensations due victims of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by election violence are duly compensated when voted into office. At a meeting with John Dramani Mahama, the victims of the shooting incident said none of them had received

any payment from government. The spokesperson for the victims, Abdul Razak Garba also bemoaned that the victims and their families are all struggling as a result of all the painful experience. The victims and their families have still not been compensated for the harm caused them, despite the recommendation by the Emile Short

Commission. He recounted how some of the assaulted victims also went through life-altering experiences with some scheduled for surgeries, some incapacitated for life, another suffering stroke and one person dead as a result of internal bleeding caused by gun-shot wounds. Mr. Garba extended the group’s appreciation to John

Mahama for his compassion and for paying for the cost of their treatment including major surgeries. Mahama in his remarks extended his sympathies to the victims and their families. He also pledged to continue to support the members in any way that he can but stressed that it is the duty of of the state to compensate the victims as

recommended. John Mahama expressed shock at the level of impunity that he said, continues to define the Akufo-Addo and the Bawumia government, adding that impunity when unchecked also leads to unrestrained violence and that is why killings of innocent Ghanaians at Ejura and Techiman happened. He promised that, no

matter how long it would take, the NDC would pursue every possible means to ensure those who committed the crimes are punished and all compensations due the victims fully paid. Ghana must not forget about what happened, he added.

The Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election

The NDC withdrew from the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election following a shooting incident at the polls. Some masked men were also caught on camera beating up civilians who did not resist arrest. The men, fully armed, were also seen in the company of some police officers. The government subsequently set up a committee to

probe the incident. The Emile Short Commission of the Inquiry was, among other things, mandated to make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the circumstances of, and establish the facts leading to the events and associated violence that occurred during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. The Commission also took

testimonies of principal witnesses in the matter also including Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George; Commander of the National Security, the SWAT team, DSP Mr Samuel Azugu; and the then NDC Parliamentary candidate, Delali Kwasi Brempong. The Commission interviewed over 20 other witnesses and

also persons of interest over a three week period. The commission after its investigation presented its report to the President. The Emile Short Commission, among other things recommended that victims of the violence should be paid compensation for harm they suffered. A number of the recommendations were rejected by the government in its White Paper.