Let's fight mob justice beyond talk - Dwamena-Aboagye

The Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Ghana, Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has said to fight the menace of mob justice, civil society organisations and government must go beyond talk and press statements to educate the citizenry on the consequences of breaking the law.

Her comments come as the nation is discussing and condemning mob justice following the lynching of army Captain Maxwell Mahama at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region on Monday May 29 by an angry mob which accused him of being an armed robber.

Condemning mob action, the human rights lawyer told Moro Awudu on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Monday 5 June that “it’s not enough to speak; it’s not enough to write statements”.

“I’m not happy with the Ghana Bar Association issuing press statements, I’m not happy with the Christian Council issuing press statements. We have armies of people, we need to get them into the communities. If somebody says this is not about education, yes, it’s not all about education, but if people understand that this is about impunity and impunity must end and there are consequences in the law, then they will be careful when lifting that brick,” she added.

Mrs Dwamena-Aboagye noted that there are laws in the country that must be enforced but need to be first understood. In her view, people act with impunity because “they know the law but they don’t understand the consequences of it”, adding: “And it’s also because they feel they can get away with it and if they can’t get away with it, then everybody must know before they lift that brick.”