J.H. Mensah explains his call for probe into AFRC/PNDC era

The Minority Leader, Mr John Henry Mensah, has stated that his recent call for the institution of a parliamentary commission to look into the excesses of the AFRC/PNDC era so that compensation and restitution could be paid by the state to victims has been misunderstood.

He stressed that his proposal, which was made at the re-opening of parliament on December 14, was neither an agenda for vendetta nor machinery for witch-hunting but a "pragmatic proposition to genuinely and perpetually heal the wounds of the past".


Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani on Thursday, Mr Mensah said his proposed "Commission on Justice and Peace" is not going to be a political tool for settling scores. He said it would rather be a bi-partisan body to be made up of members of parliament from all the political parties.


"The fact that I stressed in parliament that this quasi-judicial body will not only give justice to victims of the AFRC/PNDC era but will also grant immunity and better retirement package to President Rawlings should convince all that the commission will not be a tool for vengeance." Mr Mensah pointed out that whether one likes it or not, there were excesses during the heady days of the revolution and people who were unduly victimised would continue to demand justice no matter how long it takes.


He said the institution of the commission would provide a forum for such aggrieved persons to seek justice and restitution once and for all, adding that it will also save successive governments from yielding to pressure to set up partisan enquiries of their own.


"The country is facing enormous developmental problems so successive governments cannot afford to waste their time raking the past hence the need for such a commission to dispassionately serve justice to deserving victims."

Mr. Mensah described as "wishful thinking" assertions in certain quarters that the establishment of such a commission would only lead to the re-opening of old wounds.


"The wounds created by the excesses of the AFRC/PNDC era have only been suppressed but never healed and it is about time the country boldly confronts its darkest past and deal with it once and for all as we cannot continue to sweep it under the carpet."


On the forthcoming run-off of the presidential election, the minority leader reiterated his claim that the NDC has set in motion a machinery to rig the election by using the excess names on the register hence its submissions that two million of its supporters did not vote due to complacency.


He further alleged that it has come to the notice of the NPP that voting in its strongholds would be deliberately disrupted on December 28 by hired thugs of the NDC so that voters would be scared from casting their ballots.


Mr. Mensah said the NPP, having soundly defeated the NDC in the first round, is even more committed to a peaceful run-off and urged all stakeholders, including the security services and the Electoral Commission, to ensure an event-free election on December 28.