The 21 officers who were implicated in a shooting incident at Manso Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region which resulted in the death of seven male adults are yet to face a court.
This is because prosecutors are still waiting for advice from the office of the Attorney General on how to proceed with the matter.
Immediate families, relatives and the Muslim community in Asawase keep pushing for justice for their sons, three years after the incident. They say enough has not been done to punish the officers as there are fears they may be left off the hook.
But appearing before the Appointment Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, February 16, Minister-designate for the Interior Ambrose Dery assured that he will revisit the case when he assumes office.
“When you are dealing with murder cases and you have multiplicity of suspects you have to be careful and get a good job done…From my point of view as a lawyer I think a job is being done [in the case] but now I am giving you the assurance that I will get in touch with the Attorney General and know where we are”, Hon Dery reiterated while commending the Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak on his quest to seek justice for the deceased.
He further assured the committee that the police admnistration will review the operations of the Anti-robbery Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department whose members were said to have committed the crime.
Background
The incident happened a few days after armed robbers shot and killed a policeman and injured another on the Manso-Nkwanta stretch in September 2018.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command claimed the deceased persons opened fire on them and they returned fire.
The families of the deceased persons had disputed the claims that their relatives were armed robbers.
Tensions soared as angry youth in the Zongo community attacked the Manhyia hospital, nearly torched a police station in the neighborhood and pelted the policemen with stones.
The policemen had to fire tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.
An independent committee was however set up to investigate the matter. The committee declared that the deceased persons were not armed robbers and further recommended the immediate prosecution of the officers involved.
Source: Daily Mail GH
Email Daily Mail GH: stories@dailymailgh.com or
Whatsapp: +233(0)509928122
