STATEMENT BY FAMILY OF THE LATE STEPHEN LANGTON MANE

RE: Shooting of Stephen Langton Mane on Thursday 17th March 2022 in Wa.

The family of the late Stephen Langton Mane is still grappling with the news of the gruesome murder of our dear father and husband which occurred on Thursday 17th March 2022. While we struggle to come to terms with the unfortunate reality that our dada is no longer with us, our pain is further exacerbated by the deliberate but unfortunate attempts by the Regional Police Administration to impute an unscrupulous character to the name and person of the late Stephen Langton Mane.

For instance, we are baffled by the deliberate efforts of the Regional Police Command to establish some sort of familial relations between the deceased and the suspect when in fact none exist.

The family of the deceased finds this to be extremely unfair, prejudicial and repugnant. We therefore state the truth facts as follows.

Mr Stephen Langton Mane hails from Tizza in the Jirapa Municipality of the Upper West Region while the suspect Alhaji Inusah Rahman comes from Kabanye within the Wa Municipality. As a matter of fact, the two have no family ties or business ties in whatever form as the Police seem to portray in the media space.

2. Prior to his unfortunate demise, Mr Mane was not involved in any land dispute with other the suspect or any other person or family as the Police would want Ghanaians to believe.

Mr Mane was very affable, peace loving person who believed and upheld the rule of law and regard for due process in the University where he once taught and at home where he guided.

The family is therefore shocked that such a peace-loving person could be met with such a cruel and violent death in his own neighborhood without any provocation whatsoever. We are therefore appealing to the Director-General, CID and the Inspector-General of Police Dr. George Dampare to directly intervene to ensure that Justice is served in this matter.

More importantly, the family is concerned about the conduct of the Regional Police Command which smacks of partiality in the matter. We are particularly troubled that the investigations into the circumstances leading to the gruesome killing of our beloved relative is being conducted under the supervision of the Regional Police Commander DCOP Peter Ndekugri who is a known friend of the suspect involved and who by his own admission in his utterances has been receiving personal statements from the suspect.

The family’s attention has been drawn to an interview hurriedly granted by the Regional Police Commander DCOP Peter Ndekugri to Citi FM’s eyewitness news on Thursday 17th March 2022; where he appeared to have come to a determination prior to the conclusion of investigations that the suspect’s account of the murder is the bare truth. The comments and posturing of the police commander in the said interview at these early stages of the investigation and not only prejudicial but also factually misconceived.

They are at best very fanciful. The posturing of the regional police commander has led the family of the deceased to the conclusion that no justice will be done in this case.

It is on these grounds that the family of the deceased is fervently praying the inspector-general of police to directly intervene to ensure that Justice is not only done but is manifestly seen to be done.

We are appealing to the Media houses to diligently verify the facts before they publish. They must also desist from sharing the images of our beloved father and relative. The continuous publication of these gory images is insensitive to the family particularly the widow and children of the deceased. The family especially calls on http://www.graphic.com.gh to retract the blatant untruths churned out by the Regional police commander as published.

We appreciate the kindness of all well-meaning Ghanaians who have called in to commiserate with the family for our great loss.