I have followed the Ama Benyiwa Doe story for the simple reason that I am from Cape
Coast. This is not any of my business and anyone has every right to tell me so, but
against my better judgment, I will beg to offer the following opinion.
When you cry for help and no one answers your cry, you scream out ever louder. Mr.
Doe-Vermavor's articles on Ghanaweb sounds to me like cries for help getting louder
and louder.
I do not know Mr. Doe-Vermavor, nor do I know Ms. Benyiwa Doe. I cannot vouch the
veracity of either of them and cannot say that I don't believe them. I can say
however that there could very well be a family in Ghana hurting; believing that Ms.
Benyiwa Doe caused the death of a love one. Ms. Benyiwa Doe can easily put an end
to it and she hasn't done it.
Ms. Benyiwa Doe has confirmed that she went to Nigeria with her husband and then
left him there expecting him to join her in Ghana. If the husband didn't join her,
I would think she would spend a little time to find out why before getting a
divorce. I would also think that amidst accusation of "murder", Ms Benyiwa Doe will
make some effort to locate the husband and present him or present a little more
about his where about rather than a casual "he is somewhere in Accra".
Ms. Benyiwa Doe can request a letter or a statement from Nigerian police officials
to verify that they are not doing any murder investigation involving her. She can
also request Ghana police to investigate and issue a report. I am sure they will
have every access to Nigerian police.
The Ghanaweb article by a gentleman from Cambridge, UK looks to me like someone
putting a finger to someone's face and yelling, liar, liar, liar. The gentleman has
said he knows one of the parties and not the other. He has however made judgment on
them. Sometimes you do well reserving some judgment even on those you know well.
Finally when there is an accusation of "murder" of a Ghanaian, I would think Ghana
police will have some interest in doing some preliminary investigation to see if it
is something worth a full blown investigation. Civil rights organizations I believe
are watch dogs for abuses of governments and government officials and their
surrogates and of institutions not individual allegations of "murder".
I do not wish to claim that Ms. Benyiwa Doe should prove herself innocent just
because someone accused her. I think being a public official; she will herself want
to put this matter to rest and maybe put Mr. Doe Vermavor on notice. It will also
clear the minds of "Joe Public" of any doubt.
Tony Pobee-Mensah
