The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has advised the Ministry of the Interior to pay compensation to three victims of the Ejura shooting incident.

Checks at the Office of the Attorney-General by Myjoyonline.com revealed that a letter dated July 22, 2022 was written to the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, setting out the basis and formula to be used in paying the compensation to the victims.

It would be recalled that the Justice Koomson Committee, after investigating the Ejura shooting incident, recommended the formation of a Medical Board to assess the injured victims to inform the computation of compensation payable to them.

The three-member board submitted its assessment report to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to determine the parameters.

That notwithstanding, the A-G requested the victims to also provide all receipts covering their medical bills relating to injuries sustained during the incident. These were duly submitted.

The victims are; Louis Ayikpa, 30, Nazif Nuhu, 20, and Awal Mesbawu, 16.

According to MyJoyOnline’s sources, Mr Ayikpa and Mr Nuhu made claims for compensation.

Louis Ayikpa was seeking an amount of ¢1.2 million while Nazif Nuhu requested an amount of ¢230,000 as compensation.

The A-G also made an assessment in respect of the third victim, Awal Mesbawu.

After his assessment and computation of the compensation, Mr. Godfred Dame, in the said letter advised the Interior Minister – citing various court judgements and other best practices – on how to go about the payment.

Compensation for victims

The Attorney General after evaluation and assessment recommended that Louis Ayikpa be paid ¢347,953 as compensation.

Nazif Nuhu and Awal Mesbawu are to be paid an amount of ¢192,425 and an amount of ¢678,519, respectively, as compensation.

There was also a recommendation that victims should be offered psychological evaluation and be given appropriate psychosocial support.

The victims should be appropriately rehabilitated, trained or retrained as per injuries sustained to enable them integrate socio-economically into the society.

In the case of Awal Mesbawu, the appropriate functional prosthesis should be provided him to assist his mobilisation.

More so, the victims should be followed up medically for a minimum of two years to manage any long term complications that may arise.

Administrative processes hindering compensation

On July 6, 2022, the Interior Minister blamed the non-payment of compensation to victims of the Ejura shooting incident on administrative processes.

His revelation was in response to a question posed by the Ejura Sekyeredumase MP, Bawa Braimah Mohammed, who said the victims suffer just to make ends meet.

“After the three-man committee set up to investigate the unfortunate incident in Ejura had submitted their report, my Ministry wrote to the Ministry of Health informing them of the three persons that sustained various degrees of injury during the Ejura disturbances on 29th June, 2021, to facilitate the process of compensating the victims.

“The Ministry of Health subsequently requested that the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital which attended to the victims submits a report on the extent of injury to the victims to inform the decision on the quantum of compensation due then," he explained.

Victims agitated

The victims of the shooting incident were agitated over what they say is the Attorney-General's delay in ensuring payment of their compensation.

During court proceedings on Tuesday, they also lamented the inaction of the prosecutor who has been absent from the court for several months.

The Asokwa District Court which has been hearing the case says it is still waiting for advice from the Office of the Attorney-General (A-G) for committal processes to commence at the high court.

It is reported that the prosecutor was again absent in court on Tuesday because the advice from the A-G is not ready.