Certain comments suggesting the root cause of the Bawku insurgency, –chieftaincy –has been settled by the apex court of the land is not accurate, private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu, has clarified.
He says the matter, when sent to the Supreme Court, had to be withdrawn due to a challenge that came up, therefore not giving room for a final decision on who owned the right to be enskinned as the chief.
He has been telling Alfred Ocansey on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, January 20, 2024, that it would be inappropriate to say the Supreme Court has settled that matter.
However, the lawyer abstained from going into the details of the issue due to the renewed clashes between the two factions, and called for a resolution of the reigning unrest.
“The way the Supreme Court decision is, it’s not a full decision determining rights. They went there, there were some issues and the case had to be withdrawn. It’s not the normal Supreme Court decision –40 pages, 100 [pages] the rest –dealing decisively with both sides. So let’s get that very clear. It’s some few lines. So it was a technical matter.
“So, for now, let’s deal with the matter as a matter of peace,” he called.
His comments follow the recent clashes in Bawku claiming five lives, including three that were taken by the military.
Condemning the act, Mr. Kpebu said if the military style of leadership –devoid of respect for human rights –was anything to go by, they wouldn’t have left the country more corrupt than they met it at the time they did their coup d’etats.
The renowned lawyer could not find reason with the military saying the young men they arrested, for which their assemblyman came to plead on their behalf, later had access to guns and starting firing at them.
“Peoples lives and property are in danger and I’m especially pained that, this is true that the assemblyman came out to beg on behalf of the young men. So the point is that, the assemblyman had to go back to his house so at what point were these people holding guns?
“Because the first story we heard was that these guys shot back at the military and that’s why the military gunned them. People who were arrested, assemblyman came in to intercede for them, the military wouldn’t listen, the assemblyman had to leave, at what point did they go back to get guns and came back to face the military? This thing must stop,” he lamented.
He also cited the recent Ashaiman incident where the military subjected innocent residents to inhumane treatments, to the extent of forcing them to drink poisoned water from gutters as some of the things the military has been doing which is a total disregard for human rights.
“Not too long ago, the military did the same thing, went to Ashaiman, brutalised our citizens, arrested over 184, made citizens to drink water from the gutters, such brazen disregard for human rights,” he condemned.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces, have in a statement, indicated that they were forced to neutralise the young men after they fired gunshots at them.
They say the arms they possessed possed threat to the peace and security of the area.
