Lawlessness must stop now – Amnesty International

The Executive Director of Amnesty International Ghana, Frank Doyi, has called for the end of increasing act of lawlessness in the country.

His comments come after a Captain in the Ghana Armed Forces, Maxwell Mahama and a 67-year-old woman were lynched to death by irate mob at Denkyira Obuasi and Tindongo in the Central region and Upper East region respectively.

The late captain Mahama and the 67-year-old woman were murdered in cold blood on Monday May 29, 2017.

On detachment duties at Denkyira Obuasi, Captain Mahama of the 5 Infantry Battalion at Burma Camp, Accra was brutishly murdered in alleged case of mistaken identity.

Whilst, the 67-year-old was stoned to death by marauding youth of Tindongo after she was accused of being a witch—a claim she strenuously denied leading to her untimely death.

Speaking Thursday June 1, 2017 on Morning Starr, Mr. Dovi described the recent acts of lawlessness being witnessed across the country, as unfortunate and increasingly worrying.

For him, it should be “a serious concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians” stating, “this increasing acts of lawlessness must stop and we must all work together to make sure that we bring an end to these acts of violence in our society and that mob violence must not be tolerated at all.”

Distressed by the news of the lynching of the two to death, Mr. Dovi said “there is nothing justice about these acts of lawlessness because justice requires that individuals alleged to have done wrong are formally charged and brought before a court and subjected to due process of law.”

He added in reference to the lynching of the 67-year-old woman that: “In this particularly case, what were the processes? A woman, an elderly woman, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a wife is labeled a witch and that is all it takes for people to kill her.

“If we don’t do something seriously. If we do not ensure that our systems or structures put in place to ensure that we enjoy our liberty and security are enforced to the letter then we’ll all be at risk, because there is no way the guilt of otherwise someone who is labeled as a witch is subjected to the opinions and views of people. So this kinds of violence acts must be stopped.”