Short Commission Report: Government chastised for failure to crack whip

Security analyst Adam Bonaa has chastised government for failing to adopt and implement findings in the Emile Short Commission’s report as part of efforts to crack the whip on election-related violence.

While speaking on findings of the report on TV3‘s news analysis programme The Key Points on Saturday, September 21, Mr Bonaa regretted how “the most important” part of the recommendations were rejected.

His comments follow government’s rejection of a majority of recommendations made in the report.

Government constituted the Emile Short-chaired Commission of Inquiry to investigate violent activities that marred the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election on January 31, 2019.

Some recommendations, which include calls for Minister of State in charge of National Security, Bryan Acheampong, and others to be reprimanded, have been rejected by government with the excuse that the Commission fell short of its terms of reference.

According to Mr. Bonaa, however, recommendations made by the Commission gives government the perfect “test case to crack the whip on violence associated with elections”, but “government failed woefully in using the Commission’s report to sanitize the environment”.

He expressed disappointment at some pronouncements made in government’s White Paper, and said government should have done better by accepting and working with the recommendations to clamp down on violence associated with elections in the country.

“The most important part of the recommendations were rejected by government.

“I am wondering how the state failed in addressing some of these important elements in the report which would have sanitized electioneering violence,” Mr. Bonaa emphasized.

According to him, government’s stance on the recommendations vindicates opinions held by some Ghanaians that government always seeks to protect its own.