Hawa Koomson shouldn’t have apologized over shooting incident – Obiri Boahen

Deputy General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) Nana Obiri Boahen says it was wrong for the Minister-designate for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson to have apologized over her shooting incident when she appeared before Parliament’s Appointment Committee.

A remorseful Hawa Koomson at her vetting today, Thursday, February 18, 2021, in Parliament apologized for firing shots at a polling station in Kasoa in the Central Region during the 2020 voter registration exercise claiming she did so in self-defence.

The Awutu Senya East Member of Parliament said she was sorry to all those whose lives were endangered as a result of the unfortunate incident.

“The shooting incident which occurred during the voter registration exercise was unfortunate. I apologize to the people who were scared on that day,” she told the Appointment Committee.

But the Appointment Committee has rejected her approval citing reasons including the fact that “she could not provide convincing grounds for the shooting incident during the Voter Registration Exercise in Kasoa on 20th July, 2020 even though we acknowledge her belated apology for her recklessly dangerous conduct.”

Commenting on the issue on Agoo TV/Kasapa FM, Lawyer Nana Obiri Boahen told host Bonohene Baffuor Awuah that Hawa Koomson should have stood her grounds and not apologize over the incident as she did so to defend her life.

“I strongly disagree with the apology Hawa Koomson rendered during her vetting. Come on, because of a ministerial appointment you can’t stand your grounds? Given that situation, the Constitution of Ghana gives you the right to defend yourself even to the point of killing. When you are under attack and you fire a warning shot and they run away and you appear before a vetting committee how can you say you are sorry. Come on, maybe that is why some of us don’t get such appointments. What offence has Hawa Koomson committed? Because she’s being vetted for a ministerial position and she’s fired a gun for which she has the right, she must at all cost apologize otherwise she’ll not be approved. That is certainly not right.”