The High Court in Wenchi has directed the state to pay GHc45,000 each as damages to six persons who suffered various degrees of injuries during the shooting incident at the Techiman South collation centre in the 2020 polls.
Following the 2020 parliamentary election, riots erupted at the collation centre ahead of Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah’s announcement as a Member of Parliament-elect.
In an attempt to quell the disturbance, security opened fire, killing two people and injuring several more.
The affected applicants filed a petition before the high court, alleging an infringement on their right to life under Article 13 of the 1992 constitution and other international regulations.
Though the state, represented by the Attorney General’s office, admitted that there were shootings, it clarified that the Police only fired warning shots to disperse the mob, which the state claimed was attempting to disrupt the collation process and harm electoral officers.
The state maintained that the security officers were justified in using reasonable force.
The Attorney General’s Office also denied that the injuries were related to the gunshot by security officials. According to state lawyers, gunshots were fired from among the crowd that had assembled at the gathering, and the injuries could have been caused by those shots.
However, the court’s decision contradicted the state’s position. The court found sufficient evidence to conclude that the security guards shot directly into the crowd. The shooting, according to the court, was indiscriminate.
The court concluded that there was no constitutional cause for the security to behave in such a manner as to infringe on the plaintiffs’ right to life.
The court considered it worrisome that the shooting was not directed at those generating the mayhem, as claimed by the state.
Furthermore, the judge found no evidence to convince the court that there was another shooting except the one carried out by the security agents.
The court, however, refused to award the entire damages of Ghc5 million cedis to the first applicant and GHc2 million each to the remaining five applicants.
The judge stated that the applicants did not present sufficient evidence for the court to determine whether they deserve the sought damages.
The judge thus ordered compensation of GHc 45,000 each for the applicants.
