Rawlings reacts to court ruling on Ya Na's murder

Accra, March 30, GNA - Former President Jerry John Rawlings, has expressed serious concern about acts of omission that contributed to the ruling by an Accra Fast Track High Court on Tuesday.

This was the acquitting and discharging of 15 accused persons alleged to have conspired to murder the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II. A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday from the Office of President Rawlings said: 93This judgement should not come as a surprise to anyone. Right from the onset I had been suggesting and insisting on fresh investigations because the old Wuaku report refused to admit serious and damning evidence 96 Evidence that pointed all the way into the complicity of certain personalities in the last government."

"To have used the evidence in the Wuaku report was not only an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians but a perversion of the truth and justice,= " it added. "The case of the killing of Molbilla and the police officer at the Volta Regional Minister's residence are no different. Rather than attempt= to sacrifice pawns and suppress evidence, we should have questioned which officer gave the order for the brutalisation of Molbilla and which politician transmitted those orders to the officer. These should have been sought through fresh and credible investigations before going to court, 93= the statement said.

It said: "If the approach to these murder issues and the refusal to also investigate serious crimes against the people of this nation; if this ineptitude and omissions are designed to destroy the NDC, let me assure them on behalf of the people of this country that they will rather destroy themselves, not the NDC, the party that was borne out of the quest for integrity, truth and justice by our people."

"I want to make an appeal to the security services and forces to exercise restraint and to uphold a professional approach. I am also appealing to the Abudus and Andanis to recognise that my numerous calls for an impartial and credible investigation was aimed at ensuring a lasting resolution and prosecution of a criminal act. I have taken no sides except the call for justice and I appeal to you to do the same and not allow political perversions to keep you divided while justice and truth remain suppressed, 93the statement added.

The court acquitted and discharged the accused persons on three counts of rioting, conspiracy to murder and murder. The accused persons who pleaded not guilty to the charges were Mohamme= d Habib Tijani, a former Yendi DCE, Iddrisu Iddi, 76, Alhaji Baba Iddrisu Abdulai, 54, Kwame Alhassan, 53, and Mohammadu Abdulai, 57. The others are; Saibu Mohammed, 34, Alhassan Mohammed Briamah, 40, Alhassan Ibrahim, Mohammed Mustapha and Sani Moro. The rest are; Baaba Ibrahim, Yakubu Usifu, Ahmed Abukari, Abdul Razak Usifu and Alhassan Braimah. Zakaria Forest, the man alleged to have cut-off the head and hands of the Ya- Na, is at large.

In its ruling, the court presided over by Mr Justice E.K. Ayebi said facts presented by the prosecution had no locus and failed to establish any complicity of the accused persons in the murder of the Ya Na. He said the prosecution witnesses who testified were inconsistent and contradicted themselves.

Mr Justice Ayebi said "Statements by the witnesses also contradicted their own testimonies at the Wuako Commission some time ago. The charred body of a man believed to be that of the Ya Na could not be properly identified by the prosecution."

He said there was no DNA test to prove that the charred body found was that of the Ya Na and since then nobody had been able to identify the Ya Na's body. Mr Justice Ayebi said all the prosecution witnesses were Andanis and determined to incriminate the accused persons of being behind the murder of Ya Na. Earlier security at the court premises was beefed up with the Police mounting water cannon vehicles at vantages points to maintain law and order.

The prosecution's case was that sometime in March 2002, the Ya-Na and 30 others were killed following a clash between the two royal gates in Dagbon, Abudus and Andanis.

After the clash, Idrissu Gyamfo and Yidana Sugri were arrested and prosecuted for the alleged murder but they were acquitted and discharged. The NDC Government in a fresh attempt to find the murderers conducted a dawn swoop at Yendi during which 41 persons were rounded up. After screening them in Bimbilla, 33 were granted self-recognisance bail, while the rest were brought to Accra to stand trial.