Yesterday, the usual public presence at the NRC was virtually absent. But it was one of the biggest days, in many respects but especially because Jacob Yidana was appearing before it. Most of the chairs at the public gallery were empty. This was because the hearings had moved to Kumasi for the past three weeks.
Mr. Jacob Jebuni Yidana is one man whose knowledge about the murder of the three judges and a retired Army Major nearly caused him his life because members of the then military junta could not trust his loyalty regarding keeping a lid over the whole sordid matter. As a Chief Superintendent of Police at the time the crime was committed he was part of the team charged with the task of tracking down the culprits.
When he took his turn at the National Reconciliation Commission yesterday it was an opportunity for the curious and those interested in the history of this country to hear from the horse's own mouth about how it all went.
As part of the team which undertook the investigation he first heard about the murder from routine police communication via the wireless system and reported to the Police Headquarters where after many hours of inaction they were finally detailed to go and probe the murder. All this time news about the location where the bodies were, had been given by some soldiers who had been at the scene for an exercise.
At the crime scene he said the bodies were so decomposed that it was not possible to remove them from there without interfering with the outcome of an autopsy.
In view of this, he asked for a pathologist to do the autopsy before moving the bodies to the hospital. He was ignored and the bodies were removed from the crime scene against the tenets of forensic science.
In the course of investigation they were able to arrest the culprits who included Amedeka, Tekpor and Dzandu among others.
Along the line they were made subservient to a Special Investigation Board which eventually made them irrelevant. His boss one Mr. Ahinakwa, then Assistant Commissioner of Police, he said, chickened out of the investigation with flimsy excuses that he was engaged in some other assignments from the IGP.
Yidana told the commission that along the line he was invited by Mr. J.J. Rawlings on two occasions during which there was disagreement between them over some details.
Eventually however he told the commission that he was arrested and charged for harbouring a criminal.
According to him one Lt. Alidu Korah had come to his house in search of his brother at a time he was not sleeping in that house because he felt his life under threat. It was this officer who served with the Medium Mortar Regiment who was alleged to have been harboured by him at the time.
He was jailed for 8 years, he told the commission, but this was not to be because when his time was due to be released, a letter came to the Nsawam Prison authorities that he was to be kept indefinitely because he was a threat to national security.
Asked where the letter emanated from, he mentioned Captain Kojo Tsikata. Even after his final release he said another attempt was made to re-arrest him and he was at this time through the assistance of an international organization able to flee to Holland where he lived until 2001 when he returned.
Now a research officer with the Ministry of Interior, he said because of what he passed through his wife who had traveled to Lome was also targeted for arrest but she managed to flee too and is now in Canada having re-married.
His eldest son died while he was in prison, he told the commission. He was commended by members of the commission for the wonderful work of investigation he did for the country.
When he was given the opportunity to address the commission, he expressed worry about how Ghanaians allowed a group of people to hold the whole country to ransom. This small group of Ghanaians is at it again making all manner of unhelpful moves which are not helpful to democracy. Ghanaians he urged, should uphold democracy.
Some members of the team who investigated the murder he said are languishing in Europe but are unable to return home because of the fear of not having anything to do when they do so.
He asked the commission to recommend a package for the members of his team which probed the murder so that this can motivate others in the Police Service to sacrifice their lives in the interest of the nation.
His request for the commission was that they find out why Captain Kojo Tsikata asked for his further detention and to compensate him for all the ado he suffered.
He also asked for a new look into how Ghana's prison system is managed so that prisoners after their release do not return where they were supposed to have been reformed. After his first book "Who killed the judges?" he announced that he is working on a second one which would treat among things the prison system in the country.
Another witness, Nana Kofi Yeboah in his testimony said the Provisional National Defense Counsel (PNDC) regime headed by Flt. Lt. Rawlings seized two fishing vessels belonging to his brother's company.
He said the vessels were sold to GAFCO Fisheries in 1987. He said he was an employee of his brother's company, Alpha Fisheries and the company had license to operate on the territorial waters of Benin.
Nana Yeboah said sometime in 1983, a group of navy and military personnel from Ghana came to Benin and arrested their two vessels.
He said the security agents told the fishing crew that they had been arrested because they were fishing in an unathorised territory.
He said the two ships were brought to Ghana and subsequently his brother, Alexanda Yaw Anim was detained at Gondar Barracks. He said before his brother's detention the soldiers went along with all the files in his office and property at home. He said his brother was released six months later but the vessels were not released to them.
Nana Yeboah said while investigations were ongoing, the military and the company officials signed a pact to use the vessels for fishing. He said the soldiers went along with them to fishing until the vessel broke down a year later.
He said when they informed Naval Capt. Assassie-Gyimah about the situation of the vessel, he told them the government had no interest in it again. Thereafter, he said they borrowed ?60, 000 from one Dr. Sarfo to repair the ship. He said after the ship had been repaired the soldiers came back and repossessed it. He said the government sold the vessels to GAFCO Fisheries in 1987. He tendered the Daily Graphic edition of 15/07/87 to support his claim.
He asked for compensation and the release of their fishing license back to them to start operations.
Hearing continues today.
