The bereaved families with their dummy cheques.
Families of the seven men who were killed by police officers at Manso-Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region on July 7, 2018, after they were mistaken for armed robbers have received the monetary compensation promised by the government.
Each family received GH¢250,000, totalling GH¢1,750,000 from the Minister for Inner-Cities and Zongo Development, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, who made the presentation on behalf of President Akufo-Addo who had made the pledge.
At a brief ceremony in Kumasi, the minister assured the families that investigations into the circumstances that led to the extra-judicial killings were still ongoing.
He added that any of the 21 policemen currently under interdiction that would be found culpable would not be spared.
According to him, government is determined to get to the bottom of the case so that the whole truth in the matter would be known to help ‘pacify’ the spirits of the seven lost souls.
The minister admitted that the cash from the government cannot replace the seven souls lost but the amount was just meant to ease the burden on the bereaved families since some of them left behind children.
Alhaji Musah Sherrif, on behalf of the bereaved families, said they were happy with government’s efforts to help determine the truth in order to deal with the culprits accordingly.
He, however, tasked government to speed up investigations so that the policemen involved would be made to face the full rigours of the law to serve as a deterrent to others.
Alhaji Sheriff also lauded the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and leadership of the Zongo communities for working to restore peace, law and order in the Zongo areas after the shooting incident.
Background
Seven young men – Mohammed Kamal, Musah Seidu, Babonte Farar, Mohammed Bashir Musah, Razal Sulley, Oloiver Konlang and Abdul Hanan Bashir- were shot and killed by a group of policemen at Manso Nkwanta on July 7, 2018.
They all hailed from Asawase, a densely-populated Zongo community in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The police had alleged that the seven young men, who were travelling on a private vehicle, were armed robbers, heading towards a mining site in the area to rob people of their gold and other valuables.
The police further claimed the seven young men engaged them in a fierce gun battle.
The explanation by the police angered the youth in the various Zongo communities in Kumasi, especially those at Asawase, who embarked on a massive demonstration which threatened the peace in some areas in Kumasi.
The Zongo youth insisted the seven were innocent and blamed the police for killing them for no reason.
During the ‘Zongo for Peace and Development’ conference in Kumasi in early January, President Akufo-Addo promised the families that the culprits would be brought to book and announced the GH¢1.75 million compensation.
In line with that promise, the President set up a seven-member committee to investigate the incident.
But the committee tasked to investigate the shooting incident found no evidence to suggest that the seven persons who were shot and killed by a police patrol team on July 7, 2018, were armed robbers as the police claimed.
From I.F. Joe AwuahJnr.,Kumasi