President Directs Action On Ghanaians killed in The Gambia

PRESIDENT J. A. Kufuor has directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to lead a government delegation to The Gambia tomorrow, to lodge a complaint with that country's Head of State, following reports that The Gambian security agents had killed 13 Ghanaians.

The President has also mandated the delegation to ascertain from The Gambian authorities, the circumstances leading to the death of the Ghanaians.

A statement issued in Accra last night, said the ministry would notify the next of kins of the affected Ghanaians in due course.

The statement confirmed that 13 Ghanaians were killed in The Gambia on Saturday, July 23, 2005, by that country's security agents.

The deceased were among a group of about 54 Ghanaians who travelled to The Gambia from Dakar, Senegal.

It, however, said the “circumstances surrounding the death of the Ghanaians remain unclear at this point in time”.

It said the Ghana Embassy in Dakar was in contact with the office of the Ghana Honorary Consul in Banjul over the deaths.

A Gambian newspaper, The Observer, in one of its editions last month, was quoted as saying that eight men were killed at the Tanji-Bird Watching Sight near Brufut.

The report said the bodies, believed to be aged between 30 and 40, were found at different spot within a vicinity called Karanti, about 400 metres from an area known as Ghana Town, fuelling speculations that the victims were Ghanaians.

The newspaper said hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch the bizarre incident as a contingent of police intervention personnel were deployed to the scene to supervise medical workers who had been detailed to put the bodies into an ambulance.

It said one of the bodies had a broken skull, while others bled badly through their noses and other parts of their bodies.