Police account of alleged brutality at Asawase full of inconsistencies – Muntaka

The Member of Parliament for Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, says the account of the Ghana Police Service on the circumstances leading to the controversial death of a young man at Asawase, is full of inconsistencies.

The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery who had conveyed the police account to Parliament, told MPs that the deceased was arrested and released by the police, but he hit himself against a wall, suffering some internal bleeding which may have led to his death.

Speaking on the floor on Tuesday, the Asawase MP expressed his dissatisfaction with the police report on the death.

“Mr Speaker, how can someone run himself against a wall and have blood in his abdomen?

“Mr Speaker, how can someone who has been handcuffed be running against the wall? Mr Speaker, how can someone who has been handcuffed since 13 July, will be released upon seeing weakness without being taken to the hospital? You will see that there are a lot of gaps in the police account,” he said.

Even though the Interior Minister has assured that the probe is still ongoing, the MP said these assurances often yield no results.

“If you would remember Osman, up to date, you have not been able to come back to this house and tell us what happened. You remember the Zongo 7, you did very well because the matter was thoroughly investigated and established that they were not armed robbers but the last bid to try and get the perpetrators punished appropriately, you kept saying the matter was ongoing,” he cited.

He called for an independent probe into the matter saying he doubts the credibility of the police in such matters.

NPP MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Boamah is also not happy about how the police conduct their swoops.

He said his constituency is mostly invaded under the pretext of swoops and the force applied in the swoops is unreasonable.

He called on the Interior Minister to intensify education and reduce the force the police exert in their swoops.

“Your men must apply reasonable force when they go for swoops so we don’t invite you to be answering to MPs on some of the unreasonable conduct by your men.

Also, the Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed, says the police service is eroding public trust in them in the way they conduct their swoops.

According to him, when such acts “happen time and again, it diminishes the confidence and the trust ordinary Ghanaians have in those who have sworn an oath to protect lives and property.”