Ghanaian Among Top Ten Most Wanted War Criminals Being Sought For In Canada?

Canada is currently giving meaning to what pertains in our own Ghanaian proverb which goes like this, ”wo dwane awurade a wohye nase” to wit “you can run but cannot hide from God'.

The country is hunting for top ten most wanted war criminals and street thugs who have fled deeper underground to avoid arrest and deportation by Canadian police and the border agents reports Toronto Sun, January, 8 2012.

The news took many Ghanaians resident in Toronto and for that matter the whole of the country by surprise as it made mention of a Ghanaian as one of the ten most wanted fugitives being sought for removal from the country.

What surprised fellow Ghanaians was the reason why these ten most wanted men were being sought? ”WANTED.TOP TEN MOSTED WANTED WAR CRIMINALS AND STREET THUGS” was the reason as the banner headline read.

But still many people could not understand why this Ghanaian was second on the list of these top ten most wanted war criminals and street thugs challenging that Ghana is a peaceful democratic country.

The story read, Kiemtor Alidu, 57, of Scarborough was a supporter of Ghana's military dictatorship from 1982 and 1985.

It was reported that this man was the vice chairman of a people's defense committee, a quasi police force that kept an eye on political dissidents under which more than 100 people were murdered because his colleagues fingered them as threats to the regime.

Wow, so he is being sought for the reason that he was part of a military dictatorship that overthrew a constitutional government but fled the country several years back fighting to stay in Canada since then?

Suppose the country is still under military junta, one could easily say possibly he might be fleeing from assassination attempts but six successive general elections afterwards this man is being sought for as a fugitive to be deported? Hmmmmm.

Again, former president John Agyekum Kufuor, initiated the National Reconciliation Commission NRC, to right the wrongs after which the country was united.

So which court of law is going to prosecute Kiemtor Alidu when successfully deported to Ghana and which law is going to be applied in dealing with his case? One may ask.

That is not a question for Canada which is the destination of a quarter of million people seeking a new home each year who are attracted by the prize of Citizenship, strong democracy and stable government to answer as all that is seeking is to remove all fugitives from the country.

A visit to the Canada Border Services Agents, [CBSA] website reveals that some 1,400 hardened criminals and 20,000 others sought on immigration warrants in the Greater Toronto Area are already being hunted for removal from the country.

Recently, there have been hot arguments in Ghana as to whether the government should expunge the indemnity clause from the statute books.

Whether the government is able to expunge it or not, persons suspected to have committed certain crimes should they attempt to seek their stay in certain foreign destinations including Canada would be sought for and removed from the country.

A case in point is Leon Mugesera, a designer and architect of the 1994 genocide that led to the 800,000 Tutsi being massacred by the ruling Hutus. He is being deported from Canada after fighting to stay in the country since 1996.