NRC Rejects Statement From Rawlings' Lawyers

The National Reconciliation Commission says it will only accept statements signed by former President Jerry Rawlings in response to the allegations made against him at the National Reconciliation Commission.

Lawyers of the ex-President have issued written responses to the NRC concerning allegations of human rights abuses made against him by witnesses. This includes the recent testimony by ex-Corporal Matthew Adabuga on the murder of the judges.

But the Executive Secretary of the NRC, Ken Attafuah told JOY FM that the Commission will not accept statements from the ex-President?s lawyers because ''if a statement is made by a witness? lawyer, the witness can deny what the lawyer has written''.

He explained that in ex-President Rawlings? case, the commission accorded him special rights by sending him a form to fill himself and return it, but his lawyers have written to the commission on his behalf, which is unacceptable.

The ex-President has up to the 6th of next month to present his statement after which the commission will decide whether public hearing is warranted.

The head of the ex-President?s legal team, Dr Ben Kumbuor agreed with Dr Attafuah and explained that the legal team was unaware that the ex-President had to fill the form himself.

''The procedure at the commission is not something that is laid out in a written law so that all of us can be guided. I?m not saying that anything is affably wrong with that but it leads people guessing the right way to handle issues'', Dr Kumbuor noted