RE: Gambia killing, Oye Lithur angry with government

On Thursday, the 2nd July, 2009, I listened with deep dismay when I heard Nana Oye Lithur speaking vehemently against the Government of Ghana for signing a Memoranda of Understanding with the Gambian Government over the killing of the Ghanaian emigrants in 2005. The incensed human rights advocate in an interview with Joy News questioned the commitment of government to fight for the rights of the innocent citizens who lost their lives.

In her usual populist approach to human rights issues, she said that, "Those who want to do diplomacy for Ghanaians should go ahead but shouldn't mount campaign platforms and claim to be interested in fighting for the rights of people". The MOU according to her should not have been signed without the inputs of the victims’ families here in Ghana. She is also surprised that the MOU is silent on what will be done for the lone survivor, Martin Kyere.

Indeed, I do find her comments to be ludicrous and populist, since it sought to mischievously bamboozle her listeners into thinking that the Government of Ghana has failed to protect the dignity and the human rights of her citizenry. Her purported understanding of the substantive matters was put in doubt when she pretended that she was unaware of the fact that both the Gambian and the Ghanaian Governments acted based on joint UN-ECOWAS fact-finding team established at the request of the governments of The Gambia and Ghana to facilitate efforts by both governments to bring about the peaceful resolution of the above-mentioned matter “consistent with the principle of justice, and respect for human rights and human dignity”. It is significant to stress that after three futile years of the previous government to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the murdered Ghanaian emigrants or stow away, a fact-finding UN-ECOWAS investigative team was formed in August 14th , 2008 to investigate the atrocious incident which took place in the Tangy forest of Banjul in July 23rd , 2005. After eight months of extensive investigations by the joint independent UN-ECOWAS team, a report was submitted on May 11, 2009 to the delegations from the two countries, at the headquarters of the ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, under the auspices of the UN and ECOWAS to take a decision on the matter.

The joint independent UN-ECOWAS team recommended that though the government of Gambia has no direct complicity in the murder, Gambia was responsible for the protection of the human rights of all persons on its territory and was, therefore, liable for the incident, regardless of whether those violations were committed “de jure or de facto”. In consistent with such an international law, the team recommended that the Gambian Government facilitates the exhumation and return to Ghana the bodies of six deceased persons. They further added that both governments agree to the establishment of a mechanism, possibly a joint commission, to assist in determining the total amount of compensation or any appropriate form of redress. In addition to that, one Captain Taylor and Gambian resident, Laminu Tunkara shall be hunted and prosecuted for their role in the murders. The team contrary to earlier report said the deceased Ghanaians were six in all. It is equally instructive to note that, the six deceased persons were neither legally resident in the Gambia nor known to the Ghanaian community there.

Having delved memory lane, the contentious question is whether or not the Ghanaian Government had been handed a raw deal. It must also be placed on record that the report upheld three of the demands of the Government of Ghana. Fellow Ghanaians, should the government of Ghana jump from one country to the other negotiating for the death of her citizens who prefer to be illegal residents than to stay in their country and help in national development? How much did it cost the nation whose tax-payer was used to travel several times to the Gambia to ascertain the veracity and the cause of the death of the deceased? Could the government of Ghana have gone to the International Court of Justice to protest against the decision of the independent joint UN-ECOWAS fact finding investigative team on the assumption that what Mr. Martin Kyere (the lone survivor) is alleging is the truth? Why did it take the Kufuor-led administration three unfruitful years to push for the formation of the UN-ECOWAS fact–finding commission? Isn’t it rather hypocritical to hear their spokesmen asserting that the government of Ghana had been callous and irresponsible in their approach to finding a lasting solution to the diplomatic row between the two countries?

Comrades, I must emphatically state that Ghana has had very fruitful bilateral relations with Gambia and such relationships can never be brought to question because of the allegation of Mr. Martin Kyere and the deceased stow-aways. As a matter of fact, there is a large Ghanaian community in Gambia and there is a town in the capital city (Bangul) called Ghana Town. I find it quite surprising to hear Mr. Martin Kyere jumping from one media house to the other saying that the deal is bogus and unfair to the victims since their families had not been contacted. To add insult to injury, Nana Oye Lithur buttresses this untenable point and threatens a court action. I was bewildered to hear Nana Oye Lithur suggest that each of the bereaved families had to be contacted by Government to state how much they wanted for compensation. May be she wanted the government to go to each bereaved family and enquire from the head of each family, how much they would each want as compensation for the loss of the lives of their deceased relatives (invaluable lives)?. Dear readers, how much would you have quoted if you were the head of any of the deceased families? After government embarks on such a ridiculous mission they could then have gone to the Gambian government to negotiate separately on behalf of each of the families. Her attempt to lambast the government of the day for agreeing to the findings of the JOINT INDEPENDENT UN-ECOWAS FACT–FINDING team which reported the deceased as being six instead of the 44 reported earlier is something I find most untenable.

Fellow Ghanaians, can you imagine how the nation would stand ridiculed to embark on a sound negotiation based on the allegation of Mr. Martin Kyere? I find it very unfathomable if Nana Oye Lithur is unaware of the implication of her propositions. Well, I have consistently listened to her entrenched position on lots of human right issues and the least said about her populist comments, the better. Are the families of any murdered Ghanaian compensated? The families of Issah Mobila, Ya-Na and his sub-chiefs, and all those murdered in the history of Ghana must be consulted and subsequently compensated.

It is high time we accept that diplomatic matters cannot be treated as is they were the operations of an NGO. Nana Oye Lither and her fellow populists must understand this and not to see the situation to endear for themselves the undeserved media coverage and an opportunity to seek sponsorship for their selfish interest. In fact, the Government of Ghana was bound by estoppels during the negotiations and couldn’t have acted otherwise since such an action would have jeopardized the long standing relationship between Ghana, the Gambia, ECOWAS and the United Nations. I also believe that, Ghanaians must desist from travelling to other parts of the world through unapproved means to seek greener pastures. Let us remember that if the Government of Ghana pushes further, the lives of numerous Ghanaians in the Gambia would be jeopardized. Congratulations to the Government for the progress made in resolving the matter. Though negotiations are on-going, we hope there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you.

By Justice Kuts

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