The culpability of the Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah in the military high-handedness on unarmed demonstrators in Ejura after the gruesome murder of social media activist Macho Kaaka was not explicit for the Ejura Committee to recommend sanctions against him, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, former Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku has stated.
He said, unlike the security forces involved in engaging directly with the demonstrators on the ground in Ejura which makes their actions and inactions explicit, the regional minister’s position is rather aloof from the action.
Dr Okoe-Boye said because of his designation as the chairperson of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), the Ashanti Regional Minister acted based on the intelligence he received on the situation at Ejura before he made the call for the military forces.
He pointed out that any individual that was explicitly cited by the Ejura Committee for sanctions such as to be transferred or sacked, they stated the actions and inactions of such individual officers in the report.
Saying the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ejura, as per the report, had some “bad blood” between his supporters and others, he had to be axed because his continuous stay at his post could be a cause for tension.
Dr Okoe-Boye also pointed out that the case against the police commander, as per the Ejura Report was that of his lack of tact and incompetence in view of the situation that ensued in Ejura.
He said this in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the New Day show on TV3, Wednesday, September 29.
Dr Okoe-Boye was reacting on the back of the release of the Ejura Committee Report and the backlash that it has received from all quarters of the country, notable is the criticism of Prof. Kwesi Aning, Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center (KAIPC), saying he faults the Report for not recommending any sanction against Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister and the chairperson of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
“If you look at those on the ground, like the police commander, with him there is a direct relationship with the situation. The Regional Minister, the REGSEC allows him to try and coordinate and liaise. In his case, to be honest culpability is not that explicit or straightforward because he sits at a place where when he gets he liaises. The ultimate responsibilities of the region falls on the head of the regional minister, so I am saying that when he got the calls, what if he had decided to shelve the calls?”, he pointed out.