When the reports of deaths was received by Foroyaa the paper called on the state to ensure that a Coroner’s Inquest is done.
Section 5 of the Coroner’s Act makes it mandatory for information to be given to the nearest Coroner if the following information reaches a police station or any person empowered by the Minister of the Interior of the following:
- That a person has committed suicide
- Killed by another or by accident, or
- Died under circumstances raising a reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence
Furthermore section 11 of the Coroner’s Act provides for the Chief Justice to order an inquest to be held touching the death of any person if an application is made by the Attorney General or under his authority. What the public needs is a public inquiry so that everyone will know what has happened and what has been done about it.
Foroyaa will be giving reports of the Inquest to keep the public informed. Furthermore, the President has also published that the matter will be fully investigated and the public is informed that a Commission of Inquiry has been established to that effect.
We have been following the institutions which are supposed to send their own representatives to the Commission but cannot get any clear information that the members are sworn in. Foroyaa will be following the Gazette to find out whether the Commission has been officially constituted and the members sworn in to commence work. Notwithstanding this, a Coroner does not have to wait to commence an inquiry. The work of a Coroner in fact is more urgent since his or her finding would be material during a Commission of Inquiry.
