Executive Director of the Human Rights and Governance Centre, Martin Kpebu, has commended the two Minority Members of the Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah for petitioning the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to probe the violence and killings recorded during the 2020 polls.
According to him, the petition has brought discussions on the violence and killings of the polls to the front burner and will put the investigators on their feet.
“The petition is commendable because if not for anything at all, it brings back the issue of the violence and deaths in the 2020 elections to the front burner because now the whole nation is having a conversation about it which will send signals to the duty bearers that the public has not forgotten about it, so they have to be up and doing,” he said on Newsfile on Joy FM.
Ablakwa and Kofi Buah on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, invoked CHRAJ’s legal mandate to investigate the conduct of security officers in the election.
The probe is to be restricted to the Techiman South, Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, and Savelugu constituencies in the Bono East, Greater Accra, and Northern Regions.
“The complainants herein bring this matter before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice based on the Commission’s legal mandate to investigate the conduct of the security officers complained about in the instant petition in a timeous manner for justice to prevail for the victims and their families”, parts of the petition read.
The petition also added that “the complainants finally demand that the investigation identify the role played by the Ministers of the Interior and Defence in terms of instructions and orders in relation to the conduct resulting in this complaint, and the lack of leadership or proper oversight to prevent, stop or respond in a manner to curb the violations that have occurred”.
According to Mr. Kpebu, the petition will help bring finality to the matter.
