...Father of seventeen tells NRC

More chilling stories keep unfolding at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC). The audience at the NRC yesterday was spellbound when sixty-six year-old, Michael Dumhassie narrated how soldiers flogged him 1982, not long after the coup of December 31, 1981. The abuse he suffered from the soldiers, he said, has left long lasting and negative effects on his manhood in 1982.

Appearing before the NRC, the father of seventeen children said, "They battered my penis and waistline with the butt of their guns until I started bleeding profusely. As a result of this I have been rendered impotent."

Narrating his ordeal at the NRC Mr. Dumhassie who used to have seven wives said after the 1981 coup, an announcement was made for people who wanted to join the Peoples' Defense Committee (PDC) to report at the Ho barracks. He said he mobilized the youth in Husuta in the Volta Region to form the PDC. He said this move brought a division in the town since the chiefs in the area had already submitted their application to the soldiers to form the committee.

He told the commission that sometime in 1982 soldiers came to Husuta at a public gathering to explain the concept of the PDC. His friend, Winfred Dzandu who was the leader of the Student Taskforce, asked him to tell the gathering what ensued at Ho Barracks.

Frail looking Dumhassie said subsequently two soldiers who he named as Korkuvi and Aboagye gripped him and started battering him. He said "they stretched me on a bench and beat me with the hooks of their belts until the table collapsed. They held my legs and hands and threw me away."

Dressed in pink embroidered dress, he said in the presence of the chiefs and the town folks the soldiers hit him with the butts of their guns in the groin and waistline. He said his seven wives divorced him after they discovered that he had become impotent. He told the commission he blamed his friend, Winfred Dzandu who ordered him to address the gathering.

In his testimony, Mr. Winfred Dzandu apologised to Mr. Dumhassie for the suffering he went through. He said he had no fore knowledge of what befell his friend on that fateful day.

Another witness, Mr. Daniel Mensah Doamekpor in his testimony said he was shot in the head in a commercial vehicle by a soldier, WOII Tornyeviadzi without any reason in 1987. He said although the police came to the hospital to take his statement, nothing happened afterwards..

He told the nine-member commission that since then he had been experiencing severe headaches and is therefore asking for compensation to settle his hospital bills.

WOII (Rtd) Tornyeviadzi who was walking with the help of a crutch in his right hand could not cross-examine his accuser because there was no counsel to represent him.

Mr. Kojo Ayigwa another witness, in his testimony told the commission that his Mercedes Benz bus was unlawfully seized by soldiers in 1984. He said he brought the vehicle from the then West Germany and left it in the care of his brother-in-law, Captain Baidoo at Obuasi. He said Capt. Baidoo was then an employee of the Ashanti Goldfields Company limited at Obuasi.

Mr. Ayigwa said soldiers then embarked on an operation code named, "Operation Drag Net," to arrest employees of AGC who were pilfering gold.

He said in the course of the operation the vehicle he gave to his brother-in-law was seized. He said when he received the news he returned to Ghana to pursue the matter. He mentioned Capt. Adogodo, Major Atipoe and Sergeant Adongo as the soldiers who seized the vehicle.

He said he petitioned the Military Police in Accra and Mr. P.V Obeng, the then Coordinating PNDC Secretary at the Osu Castle, the seat of government, that his vehicle was being used for commercial purposes by the soldiers. He said the vehicle was ordered to be released to him but when he went to inform the soldiers about the new development, Capt. Ben Adogodo warned him never to come to the barracks again otherwise he would be killed.

He said upon this warning he left the country to Germany. He said when his German wife heard about the incident she divorced him. Mr. Ayigwa who said he was then a mechanic in Germany said he had to return to Ghana when life became unbearable. He said he petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Flt. Lt. Rawlings but nothing came out from it.

Capt. Adogodo who is now a Lieutenant Colonel denied ever giving a warning threat to Mr. Ayigwa and denied using the seized vehicle for commercial purposes. He said because the operation was not done by his outfit which is the Second Brigade Headquarters and directed Mr. Ayigwa to the 4Battalion Headquarters.

Hearing continues today.