Member of Parliament for South Dayi in the Volta Region, Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has blamed the death of social media activist Ibrahim Mohamme
Member of Parliament for South Dayi in the Volta Region, Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has blamed the death of social media activist Ibrahim Mohammed on the failure of the police in Ejura to act on the death threats on the deceased.
He said the Ejura District Police Commander, DSP Philip Kwadwo Hammond must be interdicted with immediate effect on grounds of criminal negligence and dereliction of professional duties.
“Ejura District Police Commander must be interdicted with immediate effect on grounds of criminal negligence and dereliction of professional duties pending further police inquiries into the police disregard for the dangers he faced prior to his killing to serve as a deterrence to others,” he stated.
The mob attack and subsequent death of the FixTheCountry activist last weekend have dominated the media this week with Ghanaians expressing agitation over the insecurity in the country.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor says the gruesome murder of Ibrahim ‘Kaaka’ Mohammed must not be allowed to end like that of the slain investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale whose perpetrators are yet unknown.
He noted that the killing of the activist and two other youth in the Ejura-Sekyeredumase is unacceptable.
“The gruesome murder of Mr. Ibrahim “Kaaka” Mohammed must not go down as those in the past. It must not end like that of Ahmed Husein Suale whom, for years now, has seen no single individual held accountable for his murder leaving his family in a state of grief due to the injustice,” the MP told parliament.
According to Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the phenomenon where citizens are suppressed from exercising their constitutional rights to protest and show disagreement with government performance must not be entertained in any way.
“Mr. Speaker, These incidents are becoming one too many, and we cannot continue like this as a nation,” the MP Bemoaned.
Read full speech below:
STATEMENT BY THE Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor ON THE KILLING OF IBRAHIM MOHAMMED, ALIAS KAAKA AT EJURA IN THE ASHANTI REGION OF GHANA
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I thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity to make this urgent but short statement on the Floor of this House.
1. This statement, Mr. Speaker, must be of serious interest to all of us and every citizen of Ghana. We must be concerned because it bothers on the safety and security of all. Our nation must be safe and be able to protect lives and properties, especially the lives of those who have taken further steps to exercise their rights enshrined in the Constitution, 1992.
2. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I received news of his death and it hits me as we had a connection. The news depressed me. The killing of Ibrahim “Kaaka” Mohammed, an activist of #FixTheCountry and a member of the Economic Fighters League, a pressure group cannot be glossed over once more. The deceased was allegedly attacked by a mob in Ejura in the Ashanti Region for his #FixTheCountry related activism.
3. Mr. Speaker, accounts are that the deceased was earlier attacked on the same Friday the Ghana Police Service arrested some #FixTheCountry Convenors at the premises of the High Court here in Accra.
4. Accounts are that about two weeks ago, some individuals had gone to report Kaaka to the Ejura Police in order to get him to
stop his campaign that was said to put government in a bad light. Unfortunately, Mr.
Speaker, I have come across a letter, dated 15th June 2021 and signed by the District Police Commander, a certain Superintended of Police, a copy I have here, purportedly issued by the District Police Command of Ejura in which they sought to warn the deceased without first taking steps to establish his alleged crimes and to protect his rights to freedom of speech and the right to protest against wrongs in our society.
5. Mr. Speaker, further accounts have it that the deceased was attacked some days earlier which was reported to the police but was never attended to by the police in Ejura.
6. Mr. Speaker, incidents like these only reminds us of the ordeal of the likes of Ahmed Husein Suale, an innocent journalist who was murdered in cold blood for simply undertaking his professional duties as an investigative journalist to expose corruption in the system.
7. Our security officers must be responsive to distress from citizens. If the account of those who alleged that he was attacked and was reported without any response from the police is anything to go by, one cannot help but to rebuke the conduct by the officers in that area.
8. The phenomenon where citizens are being suppressed from exercising their constitutional rights to protest and or show disagreement with government performance, Mr. Speaker, must not be entertained. Operatives and assigns of government must do well to appreciate the fact that there are no messiah’s in government for which reason, criticisms and protests against government policies and programmes as well as performance, must be allowed to prompt government on what it is doing wrong.
9. The gruesome murder of Mr. Ibrahim “Kaaka” Mohammed must not go down as those in the past. It must not end like that of Ahmed Husein Suale whom, for years now, has seen no single individual held accountable for his murder leaving his family in a state of grief due to the injustice.
10. In the present case, there are accounts of threats he had received preceding the attacks. The individual(s) who have issued the threats must be fished out without delay and prosecuted for this barbaric act of killing an innocent soul for merely embarking on protestations that they disagree with.
11. Mr. Speaker, the Ejura District Police Commander must be interdicted with immediate effect on grounds of criminal negligence and dereliction of professional duties pending further police inquiries into the police disregard for the dangers he faced prior to his killing to serve as a deterrence to others. These incidents are becoming one too many, and we cannot continue like this as a nation.
12. Individuals’ rights must be respected and upheld while we count on the security to be up and doing, be responsive to threats to the lives of citizens, in order to safeguard lives.
I thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity
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