The Ghana Bar Association has condemned the murder of a leading member of the opposition New Patriotic Party, saying it is a blight on the country’s democratic credentials.
The GBA called for a thorough investigation, saying the masterminds should be quickly prosecuted to serve as a deterrent.
Adams Mahama, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP, was doused with acid by unknown assailants. He was admitted to a hospital, where he died on Thursday.
Tony Forson, spokesman for the GBA, says the organization plans to meet with all political parties in a bid to encourage their partisans to refrain from violence.
“The [GBA] definitely finds it unacceptable for such a thing to happen. Even though the police have not come out with their findings yes, it is obvious that there were some differences between the late Adams Mahama and some of the party members,” said Forson.
“It is reasonable to infer that this untimely death has some links with those disagreements. We find it unacceptable that if it is a result of a disagreement, then death should be the result then we find it very disagreeable,” he added.
Political parties have condemned the murder of Mahama. Some youth members of the NPP have reacted angrily and demanded the resignation of Paul Afoko, the national chairman of the party, whom they blame for Adam’s killing. Afoko denies masterminding the killing.
“Across the board, there has been widespread condemnation from both persons from the NPP and the NDC [ruling National Democratic Congress] about this state of affairs,” Forson said. “This is very un-Ghanaian, you know, they say that the Ghanaian is very forgiving so for such a cruel attack on somebody, it doesn’t seem to find favor with anybody.”
Forson says the police appear to have stepped up efforts to apprehend suspects behind the killing of the leading opposition figure.
“So far it looks encouraging because a lot of people have spoken to this issue,” said Forson.
“You know, in this part of the world investigation can take time, prosecution can take time, but because it has a direct bearing on our democratic experiment we feel that this must send a signal to people with like minds if it is investigated quickly and punished quickly people with like minds will desist from such actions.”
“From the standpoint of the security agencies, I hear two persons have been apprehended so far and we are also told, it has not been confirmed yet that the deceased himself did mention some person's names. So for this one, I think the police are on top of issues for now. So, we would all await whatever findings that the police will come out with,” said Forson.
