The Ministry of the Interior has produced eleven additional criminal case dockets on violent incidents and fatalities that occurred during the 2020 and 2024 elections and sent them to the Attorney-General’s office for consideration.
At a news conference in Accra today, Tuesday, Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak made this announcement.
According to him, the action comes after a special task force established by the Ministry and Ghana Police Service to investigate election-related offences, ensuring victims receive justice, and hold perpetrators accountable.
Mr. Mubarak stated that witness accounts, site visits, murder scene reconstruction, and forensic and ballistic analysis of the material have all been used to identify 21 suspects thus far.
Eleven new case dockets for prosecution have been prepared as a result of the investigations, he said.
“Four of the suspects have been arrested and granted police inquiry bail, while five others have been remanded in prison custody,” he said.
The minister stated that the task force’s conclusions encompass violent events that transpired during the general elections in 2020 and 2024, which collectively resulted in nine fatalities and over thirty-two injuries across seven regions: Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono East, Savannah, Northern, Upper East, and Upper West.
During crowd-control operations at polling stations and collation centres, he claimed, some security officers used live gunfire, and some political party supporters misused firearms in several incidents under examination.
Mr. Mubarak declared, “The government is determined to bring closure to these incidents and prevent a recurrence in future elections,”
The announcement is the first significant development since the violent events that occurred during the 2020 elections, when police confirmed over 60 cases statewide, including five-person shootings at Techiman South, Odododiodio, and Ablekuma Central.
Concerns regarding electoral security were raised by similar occurrences that were recorded during the 2024 elections in sections of the Ashanti, Bono East, and Savannah Regions.
A number of gun injury instances were reported by civil society organisations, such as the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), who demanded justice for the victims.
According to Mr. Mubarak, the ongoing prosecutions and the creation of new dockets are components of efforts to improve accountability in the nation’s legal and security systems.
“We will not allow these cases to gather dust. Those responsible will face the full rigours of the law,” he said.
He stated that future reforms in crowd-control operations, security agency coordination, and staff training to minimise election-related violence would be guided by the suggestions made by the investigating task team.
Source: newsthemegh.com