Interior Minister summoned to explain shooting of two in Kumasi

GNA – Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has directed that the Minister of Interior appears before the House by November 22, 2017 to explain the circumstances leading to the death of two gentlemen in the custody of the Police, which happened in the Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region.

The Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, would have to tell Ghanaians, through the House, why -Wudu Usman and Lukman Mohammed- suspected to be armed robbers, were shot death while in police custody at Sepe, a Kumasi suburb.

Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, Minority Chief Whip and MP for Asawase, to told the House that his frantic calls to the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, the Interior Minister and National Security Minister following the news of the killing of the two were to no avail.

The incident was finally confirmed to him by a Deputy Interior Minister, who said the duo had been aiding the police with their investigations but were shot when they tried to escape.

The Asawase MP passionately appealed to the Speaker to summon the Minister for Interior to appear before the people’s representatives to brief the House on the incident.

He said: “After the police had arrested three others, the names of the two were mentioned that they were aiding them with guns. The police went in to arrest them but after a search of their residence, they couldn’t find any guns.

“They had been in custody as the police tried to get information. They will lead them to an area where the police would search, but find nothing. At the fourth place they went according to the Deputy Minister, the gentlemen tried to abscond and were shot dead,” Alhaji Mubarak said.

Alhaji Mubarak faulted the Police for the incident, wondering why they had failed to give the suspects fair hearing before a court.

He called on Parliament to take up the matter as he feared the case might not see a suitable resolution if left to the police.

“Is it the court that remanded them? How many police went with them and what led to their death? Now the family is really devastated. I want to take this opportunity to request that the House gets the Interior Minister to come to the House, probably next week to brief the House on the circumstances to enable the House take firm decisions.

“I am worried that if we leave this to the police to investigate we may never get anywhere,” Alhaji Mubarak said.

Alhaji Mubarak appealed to the youth in the area to remain calm as the law dealt with the situation.

GNA