The first anniversary of the Islamic prayers (Dua'a) for the victims of the Ejura event cannot be observed, according to an interlocutory injunction issued by the Ejura District Magistrate Court.
The court has placed a 10-day hold on the event, which was set to occur on June 30 near Maame Dede Junction in Ejura, Ghana's Ashanti Region.
The Joint Committee of Ejura Incident Victims received the restraining order on Tuesday, June 28.
According to a certified copy of the court judgement, the applicant, Ejura, "upon reading the affidavit of DSP Emmanuel Kyei Sarpong of the Ghana Police Service, deposed to and submitted on the 28th of June, 2022 in support of this Motion Ex-Parte for an order for interlocutory injunction."
According to the Kaaka Family's spokesperson, Nafiu Mohammed, there is no documented justification for the court to impose an injunction on the event.
Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen of JoyNews spoke with Nafiu, who said that the municipal assembly and a joint committee of Ejura incident victims met to discuss the occurrence.
At the meeting were the Chairpersons of the NPP and NDC political parties, the Municipal Chief Executive, the Municipal Coordinating Director, the NADMO Coordinator for the District, the Nifahene, the Police Divisional Commander, the Ejura Police Station Crime Officer, representatives of the Fire Service, and the National Investigations Bureau.
The Joint Committee of Victims of the Ejura Incidents voiced their reluctance to continue with the anniversary in a letter to the Municipal Chief Executive of Ejua-Sekyedumase on Monday.
"Our families believe it is vital to reiterate the context of our event and its history after deciding that we cannot cancel our event, which is a manifestation of our religious obligation to our deceased family members.
In parts of the letter, it is said that "it is our goal that such background will assist your management to better understand the significance of the event to our families and that this would enable you know how to support it better to come off effectively."
Alhaji Inusah Mohammed Bawa's signature on the letter said, "At the meeting, we restated our promise to consult with our family and reply. Despite this, your staff informed us that you had given us a directive to halt our development.
The Divisional Police Commander and the Crime Officer of the Police have also called us, which we believe is unnecessarily inflaming the situation around our event.
Concerns were expressed in the letter regarding intimidation against the Committee and were directed to Dr. Kingsley Osei, the Municipal Chief Executive.
"We also see that a number of Zongo chiefs have decided not to attend our ceremony. We don't understand why government agencies and people, who ought to be eager to assist us in planning a good event, have taken such drastic measures.