Agatha Donyinah, the mother of one of the people injured by bullets fired by soldiers during the Ejura demonstration in the aftermath of the mob lynching of social media activist Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed, has told the three-member committee investing the disturbances that her son had gone to the pharmacy to get some medicines for his ailment when he was shot.
The mother-of-three said her son, Louis Ayikpa, 20, was shot as he was about entering the pharmacy.
The single-mum trader told the committee that Louis, a final-year student of Effiduase Senior High School, had come home on Monday, 28 June 2021, because he was sick.
After being hit by the bullet on the 29 June 2021, she said her son was first rushed to the Ejura Government Hospital and later referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
She said the son has been operated on because, according to doctors, the bullet affected his intestines.
Madam Agatha told the committee that she wants justice to be served since she has no help from anyone.
Meanwhile, the family of the late Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed have said events in the past few days, as far as the work by the three-member Ejura ministerial committee is concerned, have left them “less certain of the scope, focus, real intent and even utility” of the exercise, and have, thus, decided not to appear before the committee.
The lynching of the late social media activist sparked outrage in Ejura, leading to a march in which two demonstrators were shot and killed by soldiers.
Kaaka’s family was expected to be among those appearing before the committee today, Friday, 10 July 2021 but the family, in a statement signed by spokesperson Nafiu Mohammed, said the events of the past few days have left them disappointed.
“We, the family of Ibrahim ‘Kaaka’ Mohammed, regret to formally notify you of our decision to not participate in the ongoing public inquisition, which is purportedly concerned with the “circumstances that led to the unfortunate occurrences of Tuesday, 29th June 2021”.
“However, events over the past few days, have left us less certain of the scope, focus, real intent and even utility of the ongoing inquiry”.
“As such, we feel let down in our enthusiasm for what we assumed would provide a much-needed opportunity for truth, soul-searching and institutional accountability for state-sanctioned violence,” the statement added.
“As you may be aware, we, like many people in Ejura, welcomed and continue to appreciate the president’s decision to instruct you to inquire into the circumstances that led to indiscriminate killings of the people of Ejura by members of our military forces.
“We congratulate you on your decision to heed the call of civil society organisations to recuse yourself from the inquiry, and to set up a separate Committee of Inquiry”.
“In addition, having sought and obtained independent legal advice as to the work of the committee, and our rights vis-à-vis the committee, we have become apprehensive of the substantive and procedural regularity of the committee’s work.
“We are also now concerned that the committee’s work does not provide the appropriate framework for a full, faithful and impartial inquiry, as envisaged under Article 278 of the 1992 Constitution.”
The family accused the committee of attempting to distance Kaaka from the #FixTheCountry movement, and unfavourably criticising the live media coverage of the unrest that ensued as being responsible for “the criminal conduct of the security forces”.