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| Flag of Ghana (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
A
Ghanaian International Human Rights Activist has filed a law suit at the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Ghana’s former president John
Kufour and opposition leader Nana Akuffo-Addo over the killing of Ghanaians in
The Gambia in July 2005.
Anthony
Kwabena Abebrese Rau filed the suit against John Agyekum Kufuor, Ghana’s
main opposition National Patriotic Party flagbearer Nana Akuffo-Addo, who he
accuses of being complicit in the murder of the Ghanaian nationals, local media reports.
Mr
Rau also told local media in Accra that Gambia’s
sitting President Yahya Jammeh is also being investigated over the same issue.
“Mr.
Rau was furious that the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration led
by President Kufuor and Nana Akufo- Addo as Foreign Affairs Minister did little
to uncover the truth behind the murder of the Ghanaians,” ASN quoted its Ghanaian contributor as saying.
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| Ex-President Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo (photo credit: Joy Online) |
“My
investigations into the murder of some 44 Ghanaians in the Gambia in July 2005 have revealed
that the total number of people murdered were 80,” claims activist Rau, who
added that 72 of the deaths were Ghanaians.
In
his argument, Rau said “the murdered Ghanaians who were travelling to Spain through the Gambia to seek greener pastures,
were arrested on 22nd July 2005 by the Gambian security personnel on
suspicion that they were mercenaries”.
Ghanaian
courts, according to the Human Rights Activist, are investigating the matter
now.
“The
courts have also started their investigation telling me that they have also
heard the same thing so now they are investigating Yahya Jammeh, Kufuor and
Nana Addo. So please I am here to let Ghanaians know that if you are real and a
good human rights activist you don’t have to be afraid to bring a sitting
president to court,” media reports quoted Rau as saying.
He
further stated that he has dragged the three to court because they failed to
fight the cause of the Ghanaians who were troubled in Gambia.
“It
is possible that anyone who is a president can be dragged to court,” he said.
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| Gambia's President Jammeh (photo credit: Wikipedia) |
$500K Compensation
The
killings of the Ghanaians appeared to have been settled after a United Nations-ECOWAS Fact-finding Team in 2009 absolve the Government of The Gambia of any direct or indirect complicity in the deaths.
The bodies of eight
West African nationals believed to Ghanaians were discovered in the Tanji Forest around Ghana Town in 2005, local media reported.
At
the height of diplomatic tensions between Accra
and Banjul over the issue – Ghana said 44 of her nationals were killed in Gambia in mysterious circumstances while Gambia
maintains that only eight bodies were found.
Six
bodies were exhumed and repatriated to Ghana and the Gambia Government
also gave half a million dollars ($500K) as compensation to the families of the victims in
what it said was according to “African traditional rites”.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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