The late JB Danquah-Adu (right) with Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament
Ivy Heward-Mills, widow of the late Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, JB Danquah-Adu, has publicly criticised Parliament for its prolonged silence and inaction regarding her husband’s unresolved murder, nine years after his death.
In a heartfelt message directed at Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, as well as the Majority and Minority leaders, Ms. Heward-Mills expressed her deep disappointment over the lack of urgency in addressing her husband’s murder.
JB Danquah-Adu was murdered at his residence at Shiashie, near East Legon, on February 9, 2016. Daniel Asiedu, also known as Sexy Don Don, is set to face another trial for allegedly robbing and killing the late MP. This follows a seven-member jury’s 4:3 not guilty verdict on charges of robbery and murder, with four jurors finding him not guilty and three finding him guilty on both counts.
On the ninth anniversary of his death, Ms. Heward-Mills, clearly dissatisfied with the handling of the case, took to Facebook to express her frustration and disappointment, calling for justice.
“That indelible smile… 9 years have gone by… Will there ever be justice? It is not well. It is not well at all,” she posted, accompanied by three photos of her late husband smiling.
She followed with another post criticising Parliament and its leadership for remaining silent over the murder of one of its members. She referenced the murder of Jo Cox, a British MP who was fatally shot and stabbed outside a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire, on June 16, 2016, whose killer was later arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned.
“Good morning, Parliament of Ghana. Rt. Honourable Speaker, Hon Alban S.K. Bagbin, Mahama Ayariga, Hon. Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, Honourable MPs, respectfully, you have been silent.
“In June 2016, Jo Cox, British MP, was murdered in London. The House of Commons and The House of Lords were NOT silent. By November of the same year, Jo Cox’s murderer had been found, tried, convicted, and sentenced. All in 5 months,” she recounted.
Ms. Heward-Mills continued, “It didn’t bring her back but it gave her family peace and closure. 9 years is a long time but let it not be said that 10 years went by and Parliament looked on unperturbed. Please accept the assurance of my highest consideration.”
An hour later, she posted another message highlighting that the late JB Danquah-Adu was not merely a number but an MP who fought for his people.
“My husband was not merely a number on the records of the Parliament of Ghana—he was a man of principle, a legislator who fought for his people, a patriot who served his country in ministerial capacity; he believed in the sanctity of Parliament and the power of democratic governance. He was a devoted father of two little girls whom he was raising to be proud of his patriotism.
It’s been 9 years and 1 day since he was brutally murdered as a sitting MP. “Parliament has carried on as if his life had been inconsequential. I dare say, his life was NOT inconsequential and what happened to him could have happened to any MP,” Ms. Heward-Mills added.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak