The Court Has Spoken

At long last, a court of competent jurisdiction has given its verdict on the 15 persons held on suspicion of killing the Dagbon Overlord, a ruling which has put to rest a long drawn, abrasive and politicized subject.

The suspects were arrested from their homes and transported to Accra. For close to a year, their liberty was deliberately curtailed as politicians behind the action scratched their heads in search of a means to convict them just to fulfill a campaign promise.

It was amazing how such politicians could stoop so low to include the murder of a traditional ruler by unidentified persons, as a political issue to the extent of including it in their manifesto.

Deceit of the highest order is what someone described what the ruling party did when they were canvassing for votes in Dagbon, using the unfortunate murder. We unashamedly share the position that the deceit of using the murder as a political tool was most unfortunate. Now that the chickens have come home to roost, we can all heave a sigh of relief that what threatened to tear the people of this great ethnic group apart has been laid to rest.

We hope that stakeholders in this whole thing would see in the ruling an opportunity to reconcile themselves, regardless of prying politicians’ intention of cashing in on the unfortunate situation.

Many Ghanaians, especially Dagombas, held their breath as they waited for the verdict of the judge.

When the verdict was given, observers of political developments in the country could only conclude that justice had been done.

It was a firm decision predicated on evidence.

In their press conference yesterday, Dagbon MPs, under fire from their constituents to do something or have their fingers burnt, described the ruling as jaundiced, for which, in their opinion, an appeal was necessary.

We are excited that the judiciary continues to offer hope for our often threatened democratic experiment. On many occasions, even under unnecessary threats by the few persons who stand to gain by such diabolic manouvres, this arm of government has stood its ground and dispensed justice without fear or favour.

Our country would be better off when the rule of law and not of men is the order.

We ask the people of Dagbon to put everything behind them and drink from the vase of reconciliation even when diabolic politicians come with fresh promises of identifying the killers of their Overlord.

There is no guarantee that they would not return with sugar-coated promises, even though the matter under review cannot stand the test of law.

We can only hope that the ruling has presented a glimmer of illumination at the end of a previously dark tunnel created by greedy politicians with parochial interests.

The court has spoken and all of us must put up or shut up.