Ghanaian Times

The Ghanaian Times also reports the Juaso incident but its story appears to be an eyewitness account. Under the heading: "Riots at Juaso, one man killed, the Times says the Police "Buffalo Unit" in Kumasi, last Sunday, stormed the palace of Nana Owusu Akyaw Prempeh II, chief of Juaso in the Asante Akim South District of Ashanti, and disrupted a get- together organised by the chief. The paper says the policemen got to the palace at about 3 p.m. and started dismantling canopies erected outside to give shade to those who could not get access to the palace. According to the Times, the action of the police incensed the citizens who booed at them. The police are reported to have responded by firing warning shots and throwing tear-gas whose smoke engulfed the whole palace and its environs, disorganising the function The paper says in the process, one Yaw Twumasi, 26, was hit in the back and was rushed to the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital. It adds that the vehicle which was conveying newsmen to the function was vandalised, resulting in the people throwing stones while the police fired more shots. The Head of the Buffalo Unit, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr H.A. Yakubu , is reported as telling the newsmen that If the situation continued the police would use live ammunition to curb the riot. Nana Akyaw Prempeh is quoted as that he sought permission from the Juaso Police to erect the canopies, thus he could not understand why they were dismantled.