By: Daniel Garteh

 

GANTA CITY- It has been almost eleven months since his body was deposited at the Gompa funeral home; his family has yet to lay eyes on his remains, least to hear about burial.

The Kwahmie family continues to cry for justice and the burial of their son Kwarlee Kwahmie, who was allegedly killed on November 22, 2023, in the Dorr Cooper Avenue community in Ganta at the sand mining after going into a confrontation with Roger Benson and three others.

Their appeal comes in the wake that their brother and son have spent over 10 months at the Gompa funeral home, and they want to give him a befitting biracial.

According to multiple sources and family explanations, the incident occurred back on November 22, 2023, when the deceased, identified as Kwalee Kwahmie at the time, said that one Roger Benson owed him $ 5,000 LD and was not paying him.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Philip Kwahmie said that Roger Benson hired his little brother (Kwalee, the deceased) to dig his sand,, and after completing the work, part of the money was given, but the balance was not paid.

“Roger shows a time that he was to pay the money, but the time shows past, so when Roger went to take the remaining sand, Kwalee went there demanding that his money be paid or else the sand will not be taken away by Roger something that ended in misunderstanding where he was allegedly mobed to death”.

Philip further asserted that when the incident occurred, the alleged perpetrator called the former traffic commander of Ganta Yanamah, and they went to the scene where they took the body and carried it to the Ganta Methodist Hospital, and in the police report. They said that the Doctor on call promised him dead upon arrival.

“They took the body to the Gompa funeral home and deposited it there without the family concern, and none of the family members were present when they even took the body from the sand mining where the incident occurred to the hospital.”

According to Philip, the case was taken to court, and they went through the case. The judge at the 8th Judicial Circuit court, Pap Suah, at the time, ruled in favor of the defended Roger Benson and three others, alleging that the case was tampered with.

He lamented that before the case was taken to court, Roger Benson and three other people were the ones who had the incident with Kwalee, but two escaped, and they are still at large, and the court or the police have not arrested them up to now.

The Head of the family, Philip Kwahmie, narrated that during the hearing of the case and in the police preliminary report, the alleged perpetrator admitted to having a quarry with the victim, which the police charged with manslaughter.

“We were shocked to have heard the judge in his ruling saying that the case was an accident and there was no sufficient evidence to bring against the defended while equating them from the crime.”

The family said that since the court ruling, they have not seen Roger and the other guys come to them to either sympathize with them or even talk about the burial of their brother, so they are calling on the government and Human Rights institutions to come in and see a reason to bury their son.

Philip and his junior brother Andrew, who has been perusing the case for their late brother, indicated that they have written a series of communications to the Nimba Legislative Caucus, the Ministry of Justice, and Cllr Adama Dempster Brown, among others, to the effect.

Andrew Kwahmie maintained that they could not go to the funeral home to request the body because they didn’t carry it there, and their names are not in the record of the funeral home or where no one who signed for the body to be deposited there.

Explaining in a teary moment, the mother of the deceased, Madam Betty Kwahmie, who is in her early 80s, carried out on Human Rights institutions and the government of Liberia to intervene and ensure that her son’s body can be laid to rest.

Better Kwahmie mentioned that the only way she will be at peace is for her last son to be buried where she will be able to see the grave of her son.

“My last son had four children; I am also calling on humanitarian institutions and well-meaning citizens to come in with financial aid so they can go to school, but if not, can come. In, God will provide for them.”