Two members of Delta Force at the court
A Kumasi Circuit Court has granted bail to three out of four members of the vigilante group known as Delta Force, who allegedly attacked Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei and caused chaos at a meeting of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constituency executives in the Tafo-Pankrono Municipality.
Paul Atta Onyinah, aka Diago, 49, Jafar Saeed, aka Odiyifo, and Kwame Sariki, who were charged with assault, rioting and causing unlawful damage to property, were each granted bail in the sum of GH¢20,000 with one surety to reappear on November 21, 2019.
They have been ordered by the court, presided over by Lydia Osei Marfo, to report to the police every Monday as part of their bail conditions.
The fourth suspect, Richard Yaw Brefo, 51, was acquitted and discharged for lack of evidence.
The accused persons – all members of the vigilante group believed to be the internal security apparatus of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)– are standing trial for the alleged role they played during the said meeting.
Lawyer of the accused persons, William Kusi, said he was satisfied with the ruling of the court.
“Per the Ghanaian law, a person arrested for any offence is presumed innocent, and so if that is the law then every court should be seen abiding by that,” he stated.
Prosecution said the accused persons attacked NPP executives at Tapars School in the Tafo-Pankrono Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
They consequently fled the scene upon seeing the police, who had gone there upon hearing the attack.
Investigations later led to the arrest of two members of the group, Diago and Richard Yaw Brefo, and the identities of their accomplices were revealed.
The meeting, which was attended by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, was disrupted by the group.
The MP was whisked to safety before the accused the mob could lay their hands on him.
They accused Dr Akoto-Osei of failing to honour his promise of securing jobs for them prior to the 2016 general elections.
The Delta Force members claimed the MP, who doubles as Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, had also refused to answer their calls.
“We have given him job to do by working hard to retain him as MP. He also needs to fulfill his side of the bargain by giving us jobs too,” Kwame Sariki, a frustrated member of the vigilante group, said angrily.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi