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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Delta Forces must not incapacitate state machinery- Kofi Siaw

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An incensed Policy Advisor to the Progressive People’s Party says the country cannot allow political party hoodlums to incapacitate the entire state machinery.

Kofi Asamoah Siaw says if politicians are incapable of punishing their own, they should, as a matter of cause cede the power of prosecution to an independent prosecutor who would dispense justice without fear or favour.

He cannot understand how the police administration will be unable to competently investigate and submit a water tight evidence that will lead to the prosecution of suspects who attacked the courts in broad day light and challenged the supreme authority of Ghana’s judiciary.

“It is an indictment that the police cannot have the capacity to investigate this case…” he said, adding, “we can’t allow these vigilante groups to black mail everybody in the country.”

His comments come in the wake of a discharge verdict given to eight suspects and members of a vigilante group Delta Force affiliated to the governing New Patriotic Party.

With all impunity, members of the Delta Force in hollywood fashion broke into a Kumasi Circuit Court, assaulted the judge and freed their colleagues who were standing trial for assaulting a political appointee, Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.

They said Mr George Agyei is not deserving of the appointment given him because he played no role in bringing the NPP into power.

So in March, the forces marched to the Regional Security Coordinating Council, held the Regional Security Coordinator by the neck dragged him out of the office and threatened him not to return to the office.

Their actions were condemned by Ghanaians leading to the arrest of 20 of them. When they were hauled before court, 13 of them appeared before the judge Mary Sankyire who decided to to remand them in prison custody.

She also issued a bench warrant for the seven who failed to turn up in court. But just before she will finish her job for the day, another group who are members of the vigilante group budged into the court and freed their colleagues.

Their action has been condemned in no uncertain terms with the president, Interior Minister and the IGP all condemning the action and promising that the miscreants will be dealt with under the law.

Few days later the 13 who escaped voluntarily reported to the police and were fined 2,400 each for escaping from the court. Some eight others were also arrested and charged with assault a public officer, rioting among others.

In a surprising twist to the vigilante tale, the state attorney handling the case on Wednesday May, 17, 2017 filed a nolle prosequi, with a claim that he had no evidence to prosecute the suspects, an admission which led the judge to discharge the suspects.

That verdict has angered many including the Ghana Bar Association, and other civil society organisations.

The Attorney General, through the Information Ministry, issued a statement claiming she was not consulted by the state attorney before filing the nolle prosequi.

She has since begun investigations into the circumstances under which the state withdrew all charges against the suspects.

But the Attorney General’s claim of not knowing about the withdrawal seem not to have gone down well with the PPP, whose Policy Advisor has been vehement in his criticism of the incident.

Kofi Siaw will not directly blame the president for what has happened. But he told Joy News’ Evans Mensah the president has an IGP whose duty it is to investigate crime and bring the perpetrators to book.

He said if the IGP is incapable of doing that then the president must take a serious decision on the IGP who he will equally be held responsible for what has happened.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah

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