Former Minister for National Security, Kofi Totobi Quakyi has described the killing of social campaigner Ibrahim Mohammed as a stain on the moral conscience of the country.
He said the events at Ejura has not only left him shocked but “saddened and greatly concerned about the present state of affairs in our country”.
The former National Security Minister wrote “Like many Ghanaians, the events in Ejura in the Ashanti Region this week have left me shocked, saddened and greatly concerned about the present state of affairs in our country. The murder of Ibrahim ‘Kaaka’ Mohammed is a stain on the moral conscience of this country, as is the shooting of unarmed members of his community by supposed military personnel”.
Commenting on the shooting and killing of two of the youths who thronged the streets of Ejura to demand justice for the slain social campaigner, Mr. Totobi Quakyi observed that the victims demand no more than justice and accountability and meeting the protesting youths with violence is condemnable, saying “These crimes highlight, yet again, the increasing reliance on violence and brute force as a first resort on the part of this administration, as if we have learnt nothing from aspects of our past, we would rather not see repeated. Unfortunately, the latest violence is abetted by the same toxic combination of political intolerance, pervasive impunity, and fundamental dishonesty that was responsible for the maiming at Ayawaso West Wuogon and the killings at Techiman South”.
He noted that the lynching of Ibrahim ‘Kaaka’ Mohammed, and the use of live ammunition on protesters demanding justice for his death, are but the latest examples of the notable escalation in political thuggery, adding that the violence at Ejura is made more concerning by its timing, “It is plainly evident that the mood in the country at this time is one of great tension”.
Touching on the #FixTheCountry protests, Mr. Totobi Quakyi said the youths “are being unwisely and intentionally frustrated by the State in one of the more farcical displays of bare-faced hypocrisy in recent times”. He added that the situation paints a picture of a government that is more concerned with its image and hold on power than by the embers emanating from the current national mood.
“The harsh economic realities of the moment, colossal judgement debts etc. are suffocating most households, worsening the already disturbing inequality in our society, and testing the limits of our collective endurance. For many young people, their anxiety about their prospects has morphed into anger, and their mood now is disturbingly close to rage”.
Quoting one of the former Presidents of USA, Mr. Totobi Quakyi said “As Theodore Roosevelt once said: ‘Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong but finding out the right and upholding it wherever found against the wrong”.
He explained that the President cannot hide behind perfunctory statements but must show leadership and prove his sincerity by his actions.
On the ministerial committee set to investigate the killings at Ejura, the former national security minister lamented that a mere Ministerial inquiry does not meet the mark, as confidence in same is undermined by this administration’s nonchalant approach to past enquiries of that nature and subsequent refusal to accept, let alone implement, recommendations as was the case with the Emile Short Commission findings.
“I join the many others before me in sending heartfelt condolences to the victims in Ejura, their families, and the entire community. I join in calls for restraint in the hope that justice will be done this time, because we cannot afford otherwise. Wisdom must prevail in this moment to keep the guardrails of our democracy from buckling beyond repair. The national interest must prevail over the parochial”.
