The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, has apologized to the families of Abdallah Ayaric and Mohammed Tawjudeen who died as a result of the violence that characterized the Techiman South 2020 Parliamentary elections.
The Techiman South violence also saw some people sustaining various degrees of injuries.
During his first official visit to the families of the victims on June 17, 2021, barely six months after the reported violence, Mr. Dery used the occasion to apologize to all those who have been affected by reports labelling the victims as armed robbers, noting that there are no official reports regarding the allegations against the victims.
“As Minister for Interior, the CID has given me a progress report. There has been no report that this young man who died under unfortunate circumstances was an armed robber. It is not anywhere. If that is the impression of the family, then I may want to apologise to you; that it is not the case. It is purely an election mishap.”
On December 7, 2021 in Techiman South, while counting of votes was underway, there was a reported shooting at the collation centre, claiming two lives and injuring nine. Some Police and military personnel were said to have fired into a crowd of NDC supporters at the collation of the Techiman South election results.
Acting Bono East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Asumadu Okyere-Darko confirmed the death of 18-year-old Abdallah Ayaric, an apprentice in the street lighting business in Techiman and Mohammed Tawjudeen, 41, is a truck driver and a father of four, three girls and a boy.
Since the incidence, there were calls from especially the minority NDC in Parliament for government to visit the victims’ family and commiserate with them. A boycott was recently also employed by the minority group on the appointment committee to compel government to seek justice for the victims.
It is for these reasons that the visit by the Interior Minister to the families of the victims, has been seen as a step in the right direction, albeit belated.
Mr. Dery during the visit, noted that “I want to assure the family and commiserate with them that, there is no allegation of armed robbery or illegalities. All we are trying to do is to understand the circumstances that led to all of this. But be rest assured that the reputation of those who died have not been tarnished at all”, he said.
On his part, MP for the area Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, also said measures are being taken to ensure justice for the victims, describing the violence as regrettable.
