Godfred Yeboah Dame
The Office of the Attorney General has recommended a total of GH¢1,218,897 as compensation to the three victims who suffered various degrees of injuries in the Ejura shooting incident that occurred at Ejura in the Ashanti Region in June last year.
A source close to the issues has disclosed to the DAILY GUIDE that the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on July 22, 2022 wrote to the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery to make the payments to the victims, by setting out the basis and formula for the payment.
The recommendation by the Attorney General is in line with the implementation of the recommendations made by the Justice George Kingsley Koomson Committee and a recommendation of a Medical Board which assessed the injured victims.
Per the AG’s recommendation, Louis Ayikpa, 20, who sustained a gunshot injury to his abdomen is to be paid a total of GH¢347,953, while Nazif Nuhu, 30, who sustained a gunshot wound to the thigh is to be paid a total of GH¢192,245.
A third victim, 16-year-old Awal Mesbaw, who had one of his legs amputated as a result of gunshot wound, is also to be paid a total of GH¢678,519 as compensation.
Claims
Information made available to DAILY GUIDE indicate that Louis Ayikpa through his counsel had demanded a total of GH¢1,280,850 as compensation, whilst Nazif Nuhu through his counsel also demanded a total of GH¢230,500 as compensation, while the Awal Mesbaw who was not represented by a counsel presented receipts covering medical bills and other expenses but did not make any claims.
The Medical Board had concluded that Louis Ayikpa had developed chronic abdominal pain, constipation and hypertrophic scar on the abdominal wall, with incapacitation accessed at 35% and disfigurement at 20%.
He provided a receipt of GH¢53,670 to the Attorney General as money spent on medications, but according to the AG, “several issues arise as to the credibility of the three receipts submitted.”
He submitted 15 receipts from two pharmaceutical vendors; 10 from Scab Pharmacy and five (5) from unidentified over-the-counter-medicines seller (OTCMS), spanning a period from June 2021 to March 2022.
According to the AG’s report, although the dates on the receipts of both vendors are weeks and months apart, the serial numbers on the receipts follow sequentially, citing an instance where the receipt from Scab Pharmacy with serial number 6197 is dated July 13, 2021 whiles that with serial number 6196 is dated July 27, 2021, putting the dates two weeks apart even though the receipt numbers follow in sequence.
Coincidentally, the 15 prescriptions for which the receipts were made out for are for the same drugs at the same doses and durations, and the AG says it is very doubtful that a health professional would prescribe the same antibiotics contained in the prescriptions at the stated dosages bi-weekly or monthly continuously for a period of about 10 months.
Again, the prescriptions appear to have been written by the same person over the course of the purported 10 months that the prescription relate to.
“Additionally, OTCMSs are not legally authorised to stock and sell the prescription-only medicines contained in the prescriptions, making it unlikely that the OTCMS vendor would sell them and provide receipt for them.”
The Attorney General after assessing the documents provided by Mr. Ayikpa and taking into account the reimbursement of cost of hospital stays, cost of related at-home or nursing home caretaking, transportation, increase in living expenses, loss of future earnings and potential earning, ongoing medical care needs, permanent physical disability or impairment, disruption to education, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and lower quality of life, concluded that he is entitled to GH¢347,953 as compensation.
Although Nuhu demanded a total of GH¢230,500 as compensation, the Attorney General after evaluating the documents provided by the victim and the report of the Medical Board advised government to pay a total of GH¢192,245 to him, taking into account the factors used in arriving at the sum paid to the first victim.
On the part of Awal Mesbaw, who had his leg amputated above the knee, although he submitted receipts for his treatment through the Ejurahene, he did not make any claims.
The Attorney General after assessing the documents and the report of the Medical Board recommended that a total of GH¢678,519 be paid to him. The AG further recommended that an appropriate functional prosthesis should be provided for him to assist in mobilisation.
The AG also recommended the implementation of the Medical Board’s recommendations, which include the giving of appropriate psychological support to the victims.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak