General News of Saturday, 21 July 2018
Source: citinewsroom.com
2018-07-21
Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid
Information Minister, Mustapha Abdul Hamid has reassured residents of Asawase of government’s commitment to unravelling the truth in the shooting incident that claimed seven Ghanaian lives last week.
He said the government will set up a committee soon to carry out an in-depth investigation into the matter adding that after the committee’s work, those found culpable will not be spared.
“…the committee will do a thorough job and ensure that nothing is covered up. Whoever is culpable, blamable, it will be laid square and bare,” he said in a Citi News interview.
Director-General of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, ACP David Eklu
We’ll allow independent probe into killing of 7 Zongo youth – Police
The Information Minister gave the assurance after a meeting between a government delegation, the Ashanti Regional Security Council, the Inspector General of Police, the Council of Imams and Zongo Chiefs in the Ashanti Region as well as the bereaved families.
The death of the seven young men has sparked outrage among Zongo communities in Asawase and the Asokore Mampong Municipality where they lived.
Mr. Hamid who spoke to Citi News was hopeful the committee will do a good job.
“Now everybody has committed. The families of the dead have committed that they will remain calm and give the investigative mechanism the opportunity to work. So we believe that going forward from today, there will be peace and calm as we wait on the setting up of the investigative committee to unravel what will happen. Indeed I told them in the meeting that the committee will do a thorough job and ensure that nothing is covered up,” the Information Minister added.
Background
There’s been tension in the area in the last few days following the killing of seven residents the police claimed were armed robbers.
The seven were believed to be part of eight suspected robbers whose attack led to the death of a Police Officer with the SWAT Unit of the Ashanti Regional Police Command at Ayirebikrom near Manso Nkwanta.
The angry residents of the area who denied that the seven were armed robbers burned cars tyres in the middle of the roads after the killings.
The youth also blocked all roads leading to area from the Kumasi Central mosque.
Several attempts by the police and opinion leaders to restore calm failed.
Relatives of the seven men killed by police say the Kumasi police allegedly framed the deceased persons by planting weapons on them after murdering them.
They insist the seven men were not robbers but were instead killed in cold blood.
IGP chased out
The Inspector General of Police and his entourage were chased away by some irate Zongo community members at the Kumasi Central Mosque as protests over the killing of seven of their youth continue.
The youth defied the Police’s riot control measures and pelted them with stones and other projectiles as they lined up to attend a meeting with the leaders of the Zongo community.
The actions of the youth prevented the Minister of Information and the Minister for Zongo and Inner Cities Development who were leading a government delegation from attending the meeting.
“Government yesterday sent a delegation led by the Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development, the Abu-bakar Saddique Boniface and including the Minister for Information, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Inspector General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu and the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensa and the Municipal Chief Executive for Asokore Mampong, Alidu Seidu to the Zongo community, where they met with the youth, Imams and Zongo chiefs. The delegation consoled the bereaved families and assured them of government commitment to establish the truth of the incident,” the statement from the Information Ministry stated.
22 people shot dead by police
Police in the last 11 months have reportedly killed 22 Ghanaians.
In most of the cases, the Police claimed they took the action because those persons were believed to be armed robbers.