The aggrieved MPs made the call at a news conference on Wednesday March 30, following the acquittal of 14 men suspected of complicity in the murder of the late King, and its subsequent violent reactions by incensed Andani youth who are displeased with the ruling.
The MPs reiterated the need for the perpetrators of the heinous crime to face the consequences of their actions.
They have accused the Fast Track High Court Judge of being unfriendly to the course of the Andanis, and reminded the rampaging youth that the gruesome murder occurred in the regime of the New Patriotic Party.
The Chairman of the Northern Caucus in Parliament, Alhaji Abubakar Sumani, who addressed the news conference, expressed disappointment at the judgment.
“We know that it is in the pursuit of justice that the Government took this case to Court. We are also aware that we did not receive justice because the people who were being accused were not even allowed to state their defence or to say why they think they are not guilty. In sensitive matters of this nature all over the world, the right thing for the Sitting Judge to do is to allow the accused persons to state their cases but this was not done. It was curtailed midway by the Judge” he lamented.
According to him, the filing of ‘no case’ by the Defence Lawyers was not appropriate.
“They should have gone ahead to open their case because we know that if they had been allowed to state their case person by person, fresh evidences would have come up and a lot of them would have even accused each other. We know this for a fact because we are from Dagbon and we interact with these same people” he claimed.
“I will not say that the prosecutions’ handling of the case was perfect. I am a lawyer and I have followed that case so I will not say that at all. But in such very sensitive cases, the Judge has a duty to dig deeper than he will normally do to unearth the true justice but this was not done by this Judge. To me he was very unfriendly. If even he did not support the opposition, at least he did everything to favour their case”.
The Tamale North MP admitted wholly that the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute is a political one between the NDC and NPP hence the difficulty in dealing with it.
The MPs, who mildly condemned the violent behaviour of angry youth who burnt down party offices, cautioned them to remain calm else they find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
He said peace could only be achieved only when both parties show ample commitment. According to him, the Abudus are not committed to ensuring peace in Dagbon.
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