General : demonstration

Probe Ashaiman Shooting •MPs Demand

daisy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:15:00 GMT

ALFRED Agbesi, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman, brought an urgent statement before the House yesterday, calling for an immediate independent enquiry into the demonstration that turned into a violent encounter between the Police and Ashaiman trotro drivers last Tuesday.

Backed by MPs from both sides, Mr. Agbesi urged the Government to initiate a Commission of Enquiry, as is required in Article 278 of the Ghanaian Constitution when such an incident arises, and added that the Government had an obligation to bear the funeral expenses and provide adequate compensation for the two victims killed by the police and also those injured.

Ashaiman was caught up in confrontation last Tuesday as violence erupted between drivers and police officers, which led to the use of excessive force including the firing of live bullets on unarmed and innocent civilians, resulting in two fatalities.

Mr. Agbesi demanded that key personnel of the Police Service be interdicted or transferred to alternative branches of the Service while the enquiry proceeded and that the entire command structure of the Ashaiman Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) be reviewed by the Ministry of the Interior.

Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader, added his voice to the motion and advised the Ministry for the Interior to hold closed sittings to brief the House on the true facts so that they can choose the most appropriate course of action.

He observed that it is imperative that violence is not allowed to disturb the peace of the country, especially in this election year, and that measures regarding crowd control and other matters should be reviewed before events in December.

The Parliamentarians, although committed to debating the cause of last Tuesday’s events and necessary improvements, were hampered by legal constrictions which did not allow them to discuss matters at present.

Concluding proceedings, the Speaker announced that the House would welcome future consultations on this issue and offered condolences on behalf of Parliament to the bereaved families.

By Rhona Murray

Tema Police commander interdicted

daisy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:13:00 GMT

The Tema Regional MTTU Police Commander, ASP Timothy Dasaah has been interdicted for his poor handling of the riots that led to two persons being shot dead by the police on Tuesday.

His interdiction came after a meeting between the Inspector General of Police, Patrick Acheampong and the Tema Divisional Police command.

Protests by commercial drivers in Ashaiman against what they called extortion and arbitrary arrests by the police in the area degenerated into riots resulting in the use of live bullets by the police who killed two and injured many.

Following the incident, the IGP visited the area to assess the extent of damage.

He also visited the families of the victims to express his condolence.

Speaking to Joy News, the Police Public Affairs Director, DSP Kwesi Ofori said the IGP directed the Tema Regional Police Command to investigate the matter.

According to him, the IGP appealed to the police to accentuate their performance with a high sense of professionalism.

A three member panel has therefore being set up to investigate the incident.

The panel is made up of Bureau of National Investigation Officer, a police officer and a Tema Municipal Officer.

But the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Mr. Alfred Agbesi says he has no confidence in the panel.

He told Joy News the members could not be trusted to do an impartial investigation.

Instead he is calling for an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances that led to protests by the drivers in the first place.

Mr. Agbesi said it was also important to establish the truth regarding the allegations of the drivers.

The First Trustee of the Ashaiman branch of the GPRTU, Mr. Augustin Kyeremeh told Joy News that drivers were not given the opportunity to appropriately defend themselves in court.

He said traffic offenders who were sent to court were just asked if they were guilty or not guilty and that because they did not want to remain in cells they simply pleaded guilty and were slapped with heavy fines.

According to him, the police were using drivers as goldmines and warns that if the situation is not checked it could degenerate into a major crisis.
Agreeing with him, a legal practitioner, Mr. Egbert Faibille Jr. told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoe that the practice where large numbers of drivers were arrested and hauled to the court that very day was improper.

He said because offenders who pleaded not guilty to their charges ought to remain in court until the police prosecutors finished whatever business they had in court on a particular day before attending to them, it was practically impossible for offenders to get access to people who would bail them.

Under such circumstances, he explained, many of the offenders were forced to spend the night in cells.

Mr. Faibile stated that since many drivers did not want to stay in cells they simply pleaded guilty and paid the fines.

He appealed to the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood to issue a directive to police prosecutors to stop the practice of taking traffic offending drivers to the court the very day they are arrested.

Instead he said they should be given a day or two to appear in court.

That according to him will give the drivers ample time to seek legal counsel.

Story by Malik Abass Daabu

The Ashaiman Mayhem - Mum wants redress

daisy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:12:00 GMT

Madam Dede Tetteh, the mother of Moses Kassim, the boy who was shot dead during the clash between commercial drivers and the police in Ashaiman last Tuesday, has called on the police to compensate her for her son's death.

Madam Tetteh, 28, who was found in a pensive mood in her house at Ashaiman. surrounded by sympathisers, wept intermittently as she narrated the circumstances leading to her son's death.
She said Kassim, the eldest of her seven children, attended the Ashaiman Government School and was in Class Four.

According to her. on Tuesday Kassim was to go to school on the afternoon shift and• he was on his way to attend the call of nature when he was shot in the middle of the road.

She said the family was waiting on what action the police would take before it would decide on his burial.
Meanwhile, calm has been restored in Ashaiman after Tuesday's bloody affair, during which two persons died and several others were injured.

Yesterday shops opened, traders displayed their wares arid vehicles plied their routes, with passengers being conveyed to their destinations.

However, some residents said they still felt unsafe because they thought the drivers were not satisfied with the decisions of the police.

The police were found on parade at the Ashaiman Police Station battle ready with helmets and guns.

When the executive of the Ashaiman Branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) was contacted, the First Trustee of the branch, Mr Augustine Kyeremeh, said the drivers would not go onto the streets again because their leadership was in dialogue with the police and other stakeholders for their demands to be met.

He said the five drivers whose arrest last Monday had sparked off the riot were released on police bail at 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday pending further investigations into the circumstances that led to their arrest.

Mr Kyeremeh explained that drivers in Ashaiman got infuriated when the police initially refused to grant bail to the arrested drivers.

He said drivers of the GPRTU and other transport unions in Ashaiman had complained to the police that some strange drivers operated at the same area but the police had not acted on it.

Mr Kyeremeh described the behaviour of the police as discriminatory and unprofessional and called on the Police Council to investigate their behaviour and act accordingly.

He alleged that the Judiciary had also not been fair to the drivers when they appeared in court for allegedly committing traffic offences because they were not given the opportunity to explain their circumstances.

Mr Kyeremeh appealed to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to erect signposts to enable drivers know where to stop to pick and drop passengers.

Source: Daily Graphic

Three-man committee to investigate Ashaiman clash

daisy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:59:00 GMT

A three-member committee was on Wednesday formed by the Ashaiman District Security Committee (DISEC) to investigate circumstances that led to Tuesday’s riot between commercial drivers and police at Ashaiman that claimed two lives and injured many others.

The committee, made up of representatives from the Ghana Police Service, Bureau of National Investigations and the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (AMA), is to submit its report in three days.

The three-member committee is chaired by the Coordinating Director of the AMA, Mr Kwamina Akwa, Mr Albert Boakye Okyere, Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive, told the GNA in an interview.

Mr Albert Boakye Okyere, Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive who is also the chairman of the DISEC, appealed to residents of the town, especially drivers, to exercise restraint while a lasting solution is found to the problem to avert re-occurrence.

The Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Mr Alfred Agbesi, expressed disappointment in the way the police handled the situation and called for an independent body to look into the matter and bring those responsible for the shooting to book.

He told the GNA in interview that the committee must comprise a member of parliament, a judge and a social worker and urged the government to immediately reshuffle the Ashaiman Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) or cause the transfer of the Commander.

The drivers were demanding the release of four of their colleagues who had been arrested for parking at the roadside thus causing traffic jam instead of a parking lot provided for them.

In the ensuing encounter the drivers were joined by a mob that besieged the Ashaiman Police Station and threw stones, sticks and other missiles at the police who responded by firing shots that killed the two people.

The dead were identified as a nine-year-old boy who was selling iced water and a driver.

Source: GNA

POLICE KILL 2 •Ashaiman Boils

daisy — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:40:00 GMT

A FIERCE clash between the Police and commercial drivers in the sprawling Tema suburb of Ashaiman turned fatal yesterday morning, claiming the lives of two persons including an 11-year-old Class 4 pupil.

The clash was prompted by what the drivers described as incessant harassment by the Ashaiman Police.

The dead have been identified as Baba Amadu, a driver at the Ashaiman lorry station, and Moses Kasim, the school boy.

The police virtually engaged the rioters in a street battle, with tear gas canisters and live bullets being fired at will to dislodge the irate protesters, who marched to the station on the rumour that one of the drivers arrested earlier had died in detention.

After the deployment of more police personnel, the streets of Ashaiman were deserted and shops closed.

On Monday, matters came to a head when some drivers of the local Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) were rounded up by the Police for breaching a number of road traffic regulations including wrong-parking.

The drivers, in protest of the arrest of their colleagues by the Ashaiman Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, were said to have barricaded the lorry station and prevented passengers from boarding vehicles.

Some of the drivers marched towards the Police Station where they were denied access into the yard.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that the anger of the drivers had been aggravated by the rumour that one of their arrested colleagues had died in the Police cells.

The irate drivers vented their anger on the Police who barricaded their station to keep the former at bay. This action however saw the drivers hurling stones on the station, vandalizing it in the process.

A number of vehicles parked on the compound of the station had their windscreens and other parts damaged by the time hostilities were over.

Reinforcement was called in to assist the almost overwhelmed Ashaiman Police.

Little Moses Kasim, who lived with his stepfather, a Dagomba man called Kasim Alidu, and his mother, Dedor, had just suspended his household chore of fetching water to attend to nature’s call when he met his untimely death.

The public toilet is opposite the Ashaiman Police Station and the house of the deceased behind it.

While the police said the boy was hit by a stray bullet, others said he died through the unprofessional conduct of the personnel.

The mother in her pain said, “My boy was a disciplined chap and was appointed an office boy in his class. He was recently promoted from Class 3 to 4 at the Ashaiman Government School because of his brilliance.”

His father, who went to the house to fetch a piece of cloth to cover the remains of his stepson, picked the corpse on return and entered the Police Station compound bearing the dead body.

But according to him, the Police whom he accused of neglecting the body as it lay in front of their station, descended on him and assaulted him even in his melancholic mood.

“The lifeless body of my stepson lay in front of the Police Station. I brought a piece of cloth to cover the body after which I lifted it and proceeded to the Police Station but was beaten up by the Policemen,” the pupil’s father told DAILY GUIDE.

According to a certain Mustapha, who claimed to be the brother of the deceased driver, “My brother who plies the Ashaiman-Tema route left the house in the morning for work and just when I was about to have my breakfast, word reached me that he was lying dead in front of the Ashaiman Police Station.”

The Tema Divisional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, John Kudalor in an interaction with the media, stated that when he arrived at the scene he ordered the personnel to put away the live bullets.

Continuing, he said, “I am yet to get the MTTU Commander to confirm what happened.”

According to him, some idle hands cashed in on the ensuing breakdown of law and order, by stoning the Police who responded.
“The use of live ammunition was a spontaneous reaction from the Police.

I mobilized more men with assistance from Accra. Live bullets can be used in self-defence. They would have run over the station.

I advised on negotiation because in such cases negotiation skills are required. We invited five persons for negotiations,” the DCOP said.

By Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar

Police engage irate drivers in gun battle

daisy — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:47:00 GMT

An unspecified number of people are reported to have died in a crossfire between the police at Ashaiman and irate commercial drivers, with several others sustaining gun shot wounds.

The drivers were protesting alleged harassment by the police and had besieged the police station to demand the release of arrested colleagues.

15 of the drivers were said to have been arrested on Monday for parking at prohibited places, but the drivers claim it is only a running excuse by the police to extort sums of between GHc 200 or GHc 300 from them or be threatened with court prosecutions.

An eye witness, Ohene Djan told Joy News the Police are currently holed-up at their station which is close to the main road linking Tema.

He said the situation is scary and the police would need police reinforcement before they are overrun by the angry mob that has gathered and surrounded the police station.

Angry youth ask government to revise decision

ghanazone — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:51:00 GMT

Some irate youth from the newly created Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region have embarked on a peaceful demonstration in Navrongo to express their dissatisfaction with the choice of Paga as the capital town of the district.

The demonstration which was planned to coincide with the fifth session of the Assembly’s first ordinary meeting was aimed at calling the attention of the assembly to discuss the issue.

The demonstrators carried placards with inscriptions such as “Mr. President, hear our genuine cry,” “Why war and not peace”,”capital in Paga is war” and “we want violence-free district” among others.

A spokes person for the demonstrators, Aloo Robert Apechira addressing the crowd, said Chiana is the headquarters of the Chiana-Paga constituency, and has a comparatively large area with four paramount seats comprising Chiana, Kayoro, Katiu and Nakong.

He said the decision to make Paga the capital town of the new district is inappropriate and defies the logic of geographical, historical and economic realities.
He added that it is only right that Chiana be made the district capital.

Mr. Apechira said several committee reports have recommended Chiana as a suitable capital for the new district to be carved from the present Kassena-Nankana District.

He said these recommendations have no political undertones and favouritism and should be used as a working document and reference point.

Nankana District should also be elevated to a Municipality which would comprise the old and new district and avoid further confusion over the choice of capital for the new district.