A member of the seven-member Asawase Zongo committee, Jawad Obama, is questioning the government on how it arrived at the GH₵1,750,000.00 cash compensation package to families of the seven victims of last year’s Asawase shooting incident.
To Obama, even though the government must be commended for doing its best since day one, to resolve the feud that has arisen between the police and the Asawase community as result of the shooting incidence, the compensation package to families of the victims is too small.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, while addressing the Zongo for Peace and Development Conference on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, announced a compensation package totaling GHS1, 750,000 to be paid to the families of the victims of last year’s Asawase shooting incident.
According to the President, GH₵250,000 for each of the seven (7) families is to be paid to the dependents of the deceased, explaining that “even though money cannot replace the life of a human being, it is being offered as a way of accepting the responsibility of the State in this tragic affair”.
He therefore, appealed to residents of Asawase and the families of the victims to continue to exercise restraint as the sad, unfortunate matter is addressed within the confines of the law and due process.
However, Obama interacting with Accra-based Okay FM, Wednesday, said he’s finding it very difficult to understand why the victims who were mercilessly beaten by the police before being shot to death, with some receiving as high as sixteen (16) bullets and low as seven bullets will be compensated with that amount of money compared to someone who was shot to death with three bullets and yet his family was very well compensated for their loss.
“Some time ago, one of our colleagues in the Zongo, Haruna Malanga was shot in the Ashanti Region with three (3) bullets in a similar fashion without any provocation like what happened to the seven victims. He was labelled as an armed robber and was killed just like that. At the end of the day, his family asked for compensation for killing their son with three (3) bullets and they were giving 5billion old Cedis (GH₵500,000.00). So, why should our brothers who received 16 bullets, 13 bullets, nine bullets, and seven bullets be compensated with 2.5billion Cedis each (GH₵250,000.00)?” he quizzed.
He said even though the number of bullets one receives should not be used as a yardstick to determine the quantum of money to be paid as compensation, it is, however, important to make reference to the one who was killed with three (3) bullets and yet his family was compensated with ₵5billion (GH₵500,000.00).
According to Obama, if one analyzes the cash compensation publicly announced by the President to families of the seven victims of the Asawase shooting incident and compares it to the one that was paid to the family of Haruna Malanga, one could conclude that the government has not been fair.
“Since day one, the families of the victims have incurred huge cost and so if you make those deductions from the GH₵250,000 compensation package, the remaining amount will be too small to keep the body and soul together. A mother of one of the victims kept asking when her son will be returning. She has also lost her life in the process. So, how would this woman feel in her grave if she hears that each of the victims have been given ₵2.5billion? So, the government must critically re-look into the compensation package as to why someone will be given ₵5billion for receiving three bullets and others who received 16 bullets will be giving ₵2.5billion. You can’t reward someone who was mercilessly beaten and shoot 16 times to death with ₵2.5billion. No, it is unacceptable and so we are just appealing to the government to re-look into the compensation package and top up”, Jawad Obama insisted.
