EXCLUSIVE: “Politicians killed Kaaka”- Brother’s statement to police

The police say their “preliminary investigations” into the killing of #fixthecountry activist, Kaaka, point to his older brother as the perpetrator of the crime.

But the suspect, Mohammed Iddi, also known as Charbulus, insists some politicians are responsible for his brother’s death.

Kaaka, 45, born Mohammed Iddrisu, died on June 28, 2021, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital after he was ambushed near his house while he was returning on his motorbike on June 26, 2021.

He was fatally beaten. Police have said they arrested three persons in connection with Kaaka’s killing, including his brother, Baba Iddi.

The police, despite having three suspects in their custody, singled out Kaaka’s brother as the suspected killer. The Fourth Estate‘s Editor-In-Chief, Manasseh Azure Awuni, spoke to a senior police officer in the Ashanti Region, who is involved in managing the case.

The senior police officer said their investigations had not exonerated the other two suspects, the reason they were in custody.

The police said its preliminary investigations, including eye witness accounts, show that Iddi attacked Kaaka days before he died.

But in a statement seen by The Fourth Estate, Mohammed Iddi accused “politicians” as responsible for the killing of his younger brother.

“On 26^th June 2021, I woke up early in the morning and saw bloodstains on the corridor of the house and in front of our washroom. There, I asked the occupants and was told some Politician beat Kaaka wounded him was rushed to the hospital in Ejura…”

In the statement, the suspect said he had heard his brother say that he had run into problems with some politicians who had threatened to beat him up.

The statement mentions one Bismark Salifu Braimah of Ejura as an independent witness to the writing of the statement. It was written by a police investigator called Kennedy, according to The Fourth Estate‘s sources.

Also present at the writing of the statement were a brother of the suspect, Mahawia Mohammed, and one Shaiwo Anyass. The suspect dictated the statement in the Hausa language, and it was recorded in the English language by the police investigator.

Kaaka had been active on Facebook, posting videos highlighting the deplorable socio-economic conditions in Ejura. But his activism, he said, incurred the displeasure of some supporters of the governing party in Ejura who felt he was making the government unpopular.

Kaaka, who publicly identified himself as a supporter of the governing NPP in one of the videos also expressed fears that his work was attracting enemies.

“….the threats they are threatening me, it is not their fault. They don’t understand me. If they understood me, the leaders would be in trouble and so the leaders don’t want to understand me,” he said in one of the live videos he posted on Facebook.

Apart from the party supporters who didn’t like his work, Kaaka had also had problems with the police, when he allegedly recorded some police officers misconducting themselves. There is a warning letter from the police in Ejura that said he was disturbing the public peace.

In another voice recording, Kaaka is heard arguing with a group of young people who accused him of making the government and the governing NPP unpopular. They threatened to beat him if he didn’t stop.

In yet another video he posted on May 16, 2021,  he expressed fears that that might be his last video because he might not survive if those threatening him eventually got the opportunity to carry out their threats. More than a month later, he was killed.

Kaaka’s death and burial sparked a protest in Ejura, a farming community in the Ashanti Region. The regional minister, Simon Osei Mensah, ordered police and military reinforcements to quell the protest.

This led to two more deaths as at least one soldier was captured live on JoyNews, taking to the knee and cocking his gun into a crowd.

The fresh deaths sparked national outrage with Catholic Bishop Conference condemning the killings.

With pressure on the government, the president directed a public inquiry into circumstances leading to the occurrence of the June 28, 2021 “unfortunate occurrences.”

On the sidelines of his killing, there is a huge conversation about whether Kaaka’s killing was politically motivated. A pressure group behind the #FixThisCountry had said Kaaka was part of the social media movement which began on Twitter and has gathered considerable following online.

Kaaka himself had said in one of his videos that he was a member of #FixTheCountry movement as well as a member of the governing NPP.