Police work under unacceptable conditions - MP

Ashaiman (GAR), Aug. 5, GNA - The Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Mr Alfred Agbesi, has bemoaned the deplorable conditions under which the police work in the Ashaiman Municipality. For example, he said, senior police officers and their families reside in single rooms, describing the facilities as 'pigeon holes'.

Mr Agbesi, who made the remarks when he appeared before a Committee of Enquiry investigating the Ashaiman shooting incident, blamed the poor relationship between the police and the public, especially drivers, on the harsh conditions under which the personnel worked. He said the cells at the Ashaiman police station were always overcrowded with not less than 40 persons at a time, instead of about 12 suspects that it was built to accommodate. He called on the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly and other stakeholders to create more lorry parks in the municipality, noting that the vehicular population in the municipality had grown tremendously.

Mr Agbesi refuted media reports that the incident occurred because inhabitants of the municipality are hooligans. "We have very respectable people residing in Ashaiman," he declared. The five-member Committee, chaired by Justice C. J Honyenuga, an Appeal Court Judge, heard from Mr Ofori Braima, father of 22-year-old Moses Ofori, one of the two who lost their lives during the incident, that after being informed of the incident by his nephew, he saw the body of his dead son on television at Fumso near Obuasi at about 1200 hours on the same day.

Mr Braima said after subsequent meetings with the police and other family members, the police provided GH¢2,100 for the funeral rites of his son. Madam Dedo Tetteh, mother of nine-year-old Moses Tawiah Kassim, who was reportedly killed by a stray bullet, said heard about the boy's death not long after he left her to visit the public toilet. She said apart from the GH¢1,200 provided for the funeral, the police had neglected them and appealed to the Committee to ensure that the government supports her as her son was brilliant and would have been an asset to the family. The committee is expected to complete its investigation August 13.