General News of Sunday, 22 October 2017
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2017-10-22
MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini
Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini is worried a meagre court fine of GH?1,800 slapped on rioting Delta Force members is not enough deterrent to activities of vigilante groups.
According to him, the ruling by the Asokwa Circuit court will rather bolster members of such groups to commit offense and walk free.
The court, presided over by Korkor Achiaw Owusu, found 13 of the 21 members of the pro-NPP group guilty of rioting, and fined them GH?1,800 or in default, serve a jail term not exceeding 12 months.
The well-built men on March 25, 2017, attacked the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and physically assaulted the Security Coordinator George Agyei and dragged him on the floor to protest his transfer to head security in the region.
They also caused destruction to property in the process. The remaining 8 individuals who took part in the disturbance have gone into hiding since. Commenting on the ruling on Newsfile on Joy News channel on Multi TVand Joy 99.7 FM, Mr. Inusah Fuseini said the ruling will do little to ending the creeping culture of impunity in the country.
“It appears that slapping that paltry amount of 1,800 cedis would embolden other vigilante groups,” the MP told Samson Lardi Anyenini host of the programme Saturday.
He is worried the development could give impetus to other groups which could create a state of insecurity in the country.
“The law on assaulting the person, beating him up and destroying property knows no NPP or NDC…the state has a duty to protect us. So if the state fails in protecting us then we are degenerating into a state of anarchy.”
But in the opinion of his colleague on the side of the Majority, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, however, the trial judge could not be blamed because the ruling was premised upon the charge of rioting for which the accused were prosecuted.
“She [Judge] could not have charged them with murder because that option was not available to her… She was practically left with no choice.”
The Sekondi MP disagreed that the Judge was compassionate with the culprits with her ruling stressing, “I don’t think it’s lenient at all…”
